en
~co
JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY
Donated by
The Redemptorists of
the Toronto Province
from the Library Collection of
Holy Redeemer College, Windsor
University of
St. Michael's College, Toronto
H0U REDEEMER LIBRARY,
THE STRAIGHT PATH
THE STRAIGHT PATH
OR
MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH
BY THE REV.
M. J. PHELAN, S.J.
AUTHOR OF "THE YOUNG PRIEST'S KEEPSAKE," ETC
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
FOURTH AVENUE & 30TH STREET, NEW YORK
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA, AND MADRAS
1915
«EBKW«
3mjmmt Qpofesf.
A. J. MAAS, S.J.
REMIGIUS LAFORT, S.T.D.,
Censor.
Jmjmmafur.
Dec. 21, 1914.
JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY,
Archbishop of New York.
PREFACE.
THIS little work is conceived in no contro
versial spirit ; for since controversy begets bad
temper more often than conviction, the idea
remotest from the writer's mind would be to
awaken that profitless and unholy spirit.
If, then, comparisons are instituted between
the Catholic Church and other Christian bodies,
the reader must bear in mind that this is done
with no purpose of disrespect, but simply and
solely because the exigencies of the argument
demand it. Were these comparisons omitted,
the reasoning would be incomplete, and halt,
when it should lead to a definite conclusion.
The purpose of the book is a modest one —
namely, to serve as a clear, and possibly an in
teresting, exposition of some points of Catholic
teaching.
The child of the Church, it is hoped, will find
his faith strengthened and his knowledge en
larged by its perusal ; while even if it fails to
bring conviction to the mind of the non-Catholic
Preface
reader it will benefit him this much — it will
throw light on many points hitherto obscure if
not completely unknown ; and it will inspire
respect for a Church whose claims to be the
ambassador of Christ, even the most prejudiced
must admit, are powerful and worthy of earnest
consideration.
Should these pages serve to dispel the pre
judices of even one honest mind, or lead one
soul nearer to God, the author will consider
himself more than rewarded for any labour its
writing has entailed.
M. J. PHELAN, SJ.
LIMERICK, Dec., 1914.
CONTENTS.
BOOK THE FIRST.
THE FOUR MARKS OF THE TRUE CHURCH.
PAGE
PROLOGUE !
CHAPTER I.
I. THE TRUE CHURCH MUST BE ONE ... 6
II. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH is ONE . . . .19
III. No OTHER CHURCH is ONE 25
CHAPTER II.
I. THE TRUE CHURCH SHOULD BE HOLY. . . 29
II. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH is HOLY .... 38
III. No OTHER CHURCH is HOLY . . . .51
CHAPTER III.
I. THE TRUE CHURCH SHOULD BE CATHOLIC . . 56
II. THE "CATHOLIC CHURCH" is CATHOLIC . . 63
III. No OTHER CHURCH is CATHOLIC ... 75
vii
Contents
CHAPTER IV.
I. THE TRUE CHURCH MUST BE APOSTOLIC . . 80
II. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH is APOSTOLIC ... 87
III. No OTHER CHURCH is APOSTOLIC ... 96
BOOK THE SECOND.
THE POPE AND HIS PREROGATIVES.
CHAPTER I.
WHAT INFALLIBILITY MEANS 113
CHAPTER II.
THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE . . . .126
CHAPTER III.
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF THE PAPACY . . . 145
EPILOGUE . . .172
ERRATA SLIP.
Page 23, line 24, for " forty-four " read " forty-five ".
» 33. » 3, delete the word " like ".
„ 47, „ 16, for " there " read " their ".
„ 70, ,, 17, for "Brothers" read "brothers".
„ 105, „ 8, insert after "Good Friday" : " Did He not say:
' This is My Body, which shall be delivered for
Vlll
BOOK THE FIRST
THE FOUR MARKS OF THE TRUE
CHURCH.
PROLOGUE.
A MAN awakening in an English city on a Sunday
morning finds his ears assailed by a multitude of
church bells. The very air grows vibrant with
their booming, clanging and chiming. Every
variety of note is here, from the deep-toned bass
of the cathedral to the tinny jingle of the
Methodist chapel.
He knows from experience, and if he did
not Monday's papers could inform him, that
this clamouring of contradictory sounds, this
babel of brass tongues symbolizes, and that
but feebly, the clashing doctrines and warring
creeds preached from the pulpits within.
And if into a subject so serious the comic
clement could enter, he might smile to think
that each of these mutually destructive creeds
claims to be the divinely appointed and ex
clusive oracle of God's message to man.
He then reflects that truth is but one ; that
two and two cannot be four and five at the
same time, that if one out of every thirty of
The Straight Path
these churches is right the remaining twenty-nine
must be wrong. Yet here he has all assuring
him that they bear him one heavenly message
and all at the same time contradicting one an
other. A spectacle indeed to furnish a scoff to
the infidel, but to the thoughtful man, anxious
for his soul's salvation, saddening and bewilder
ing in the extreme. He listens for a clear and
definite voice and gets instead a din of chaotic
confusion.
Here he might well despair did not two com
forting thoughts come to his relief : —
1. That the true Church founded by Christ
certainly exists somewhere to-day ; for He
promised that it was to last throughout all time,
and the gates of hell should not prevail against it.
2. That Christ was God.
Taking these two points when he proceeds to
reason, the perplexing tangle vanishes and his
path grows clear. This is the order in which his
thoughts stand : Christ being God foresaw all
things to come : unborn ages lived and palpitated
before His eyes. Yes, as He stood by the lonely
Galilean lake or walked the crowded city the
canvas of the future was ever unrolled before
His vision. He saw the supremacy of His
Vicar in the Christian family of nations de
stroyed, the keystone in the arch of Christian
2
Prologue
unity displaced fifteen centuries after His death,
as in the ninth century by the Greek schism.
As He prayed through the hushed stillness of
the midnight hours the discordant voices of
brawling sectaries, that have maddened the world
for the past three hundred years, kept ringing
in His ears. And before Him another vision
also arose — the vision of honest men perplexed,
lifting their hands in anguish and crying " Lord,
that we may see ! " "A Church You have es
tablished, but where shall we find it in this city
of confusion ? "
Having reasoned thus far he arrives at another
truth that grows out of these : The God who
longs for the salvation of souls, and Who fore
saw the torture of perplexed minds, must have
made provision to relieve and enlighten them.
He surely did not leave them to grope without
help, He must have flung out a loving hand to
guide, by giving in His inspired Volume definite
character marks by which His true Church could
be distinguished. He must have set up finger
posts, pointing the Straight Path to His holy
city. These marks too cannot be obscure for
they are to be read by all, they must shine as
luminous lamps leading to the home of peace.
This is the just conclusion to which his reason
ing leads.
3 i»
The Straight Path
Our inquirer's task has now resolved itself to
a definite simple issue, namely : to discover for
himself which of these various bodies claiming
to be the true Church of Christ possesses the
necessary credentials.
To his task he brings but two things — the
inspired Bible and a candid mind, — and these
two alone suffice.
Opening the sacred Volume he soon discovers
that God actually has left four characteristic
marks by which His true Church could be known
from the spurious imitations. That she should
be ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC.
The first portion of the inquiry is thus com
plete. Having secured his four tests, he next
proceeds to apply them to the Christian world
of to-day. He closes the Bible and surveys the
various Churches in order to discover the four
divine birth-marks, the four credentials that
guarantee a heavenly origin. At the door of
each he knocks demanding the scrip of au
thority stamped with the four seals that assure
humanity she is the genuinely accredited ambas
sador from God to man.
In one and only in one Christian body he dis
covers them. Then that and that alone must
be the true Church and his duty to enter it is
imperative.
4
Prologue
This conviction is shot home with the force and
precision of an iron bolt.
Inquiry now ends, for he has arrived at truth.
This is the result of his search : —
1. Christ being God was bound to leave
definite marks to distinguish His true Church
from the various false claimants.
2. That He has done so and one Christian body
alone possesses them.
3. Therefore, that and no other is the true
Church.
This line of reasoning is so direct and so simple
that while it satisfies the most cultured intellect,
the untutored can follow it with ease ; and so
irresistible is the force of the conclusion arrived at
that no trick or sophistry can loosen the iron
grasp with which conviction holds the mind.
Let us now trim the lamp, and looking over
our inquirer's shoulder while he reads the sacred
page, follow his train of thought as one by one
he examines the four marks of the true Church.
CHAPTER I.
THE TRUE CHURCH MUST BE ONE.
statement IN those passages of Sacred Scripture which de-
of the scribes the Church of Christ, if there is one char
acteristic that stands out more prominently than
another it is her unity. If the inspired writers
wished to engrave in characters of light one idea
more deeply than another it is that :—
1 . The Church is to be one in faith.
2. One in government ; and
3. One in worship.
That in her there shall be no discordant ele
ments, no clashing of systems, no babel of tongues,
no multiplicity of heads ; but universal harmony
and unity in faith, government and worship ;
that the din of discord shall never be heard inside
her sacred threshold, but that she was to be as
essentially one as the God Who formed her, or
as the sun that He has fixed in the arching vault
of heaven — u One is My dove : My perfect one
is but one " .
6
The True Church must be One
When a speaker or writer wishes to single out proofs.
and emphasize with special strength and clearness
the leading quality of a man or institution, he
invariably employs a metaphor or simile to effect
his purpose ; and when he desires to leave this
character stamped, fixed and luminous as a star
of light, the figures are repeated and multiplied.
Now, nowhere do we find this practice more
common than in Sacred Scripture. The Phari
sees are " whitened sepulchres," " a generation
of vipers," " blind leaders of the blind " . What
nervous energy is compressed into these descrip
tions ! Instead of baldly saying that these men
were false or insincere, Christ consumes them in
a blaze of scorn. Again, " You are the salt of
the earth, the light of the world " . Here is re
vealed in one bold stroke of the master-hand the
power of the apostolic message to illuminate and
purify corrupt and darkened humanity.
Christ and His Apostles when describing the
true Church liken it to many things : in each
and every comparison the leading, dominant idea
is one of unbroken unity.
She was to exist perpetually a corporate society,
her members bound together by close and definite
bonds ; all professing the same faith ; all subject
to the same Ruler, and all united in common
worship, offering the same sacrifice and partaking
7
The Straight Path
of the same sacraments. She is spoken of as a
" body," a " kingdom," a " sheepfold," a " house,"
a " temple," a " tree " .
A Body. In exhorting the Ephesians to union and charity
among themselves St. Paul sets before their eyes
the example of the Church's unity to induce
them to close up their ranks and banish discord.
" Be careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace."
" One body and one spirit ; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." *
Here the Apostle gives a list of things that
are not only one, but that exclude the idea of
division, and amongst them he places the cc one
faith " as necessarily and essentially one as is the
"one God" or the "one baptism."
In several other places he speaks of the Church
as a " body " : " For we being many, are one
bread, one body ". f
" Some He gave to be apostles . . . unto the
edifying of the body of Christ." J
" And He hath subjected all things under His
feet ; and hath made Him head over all the
Church, which is His body." §
The foundation of this comparison so signifi
cantly repeated is explained by the Apostle him-
* Ephes. iv. 3,6. 1 1 Cor. x. 17.
£ Ephes. iv. n, 12. § Ephes. i. 22.
8
The True Church must be One
self to the Romans : c< For as in one body we
have many members, but all the members have
not the same office : so we being many, are one
body in Christ " . *
The points of likeness here given between the
Church and the human body are four :—
(a) The body is composed of a variety of
members differing in structure, function and
position.
(b) Each member has a separate office ap
pointed to it, the eye does not do the work of
the ear, nor the hand the work of the foot.
(c) Each member is endowed with special
faculties for the performance of its allotted duties.
(d) Yet, though differing so widely, by a
marvellous and well-ordered combination, they
all coalesce to form one undivided structure, a
united, a perfect whole.
Not only are they inserted in a common trunk
but by reflex and sympathetic interaction the
pain or pleasure, the shame or glory of one is
shared by all the other members ; all diversity is
forgotten and they stand forth as one body.
In like manner the Church of Christ, though
composed of different members — rich and poor,
servant and master, black and white — would be
known if this multitude of diverse members
* Rom. xii. 4, 5.
9
The Straight Path
were united, like those of the human body, into
one undivided organism.
As but one soul animates the human body
so one faith should vitalize the true Church.
As all the members of the body are directed
and governed by but one head, so in the true
Church one supreme Pastor should rule its vari
ous component parts.
If diversities of faith were discovered in a
Christian body, if it became split into different
groups acknowledging various heads, it could
not be known as the true Church of Christ.
Can the human body be animated by two
different and contradictory spirits? Neither
can the Church of Christ hold two faiths. Can
the members of the human body be directed by
two heads? Neither can the Church have more
than one supreme guide.
If in a Christian Church diverse faiths or con
tradictory heads are discovered, that Church has
no claim to be recognized as the Church of
Christ.
A King- Our Lord repeatedly speaks of the Church as
dom. a « kingdom " :—
" If anyone heareth the word of the king
dom of God."*
u But if I by the spirit of God cast out
* Matt. xin. 19.
10
The True Church must be One
devils, then is the kingdom of God come unto
you ".*
The Jews, looking through carnal eyes,
pictured the Messiah that was to come, despite
their own prophecies to the contrary, as a con
queror clothed with earthly power, whose glory
should surpass that of Solomon ; the earth was
to rock under the tramp of his resistless
legions ; the Empire of Rome would lie shivered
at his feet ; his strong arm would pluck her
hated standards from their sacred walls and hurl
her proudest banners to the dust ; the splendour
of his conquests was to surpass that of Alexander The Unity
or Augustus ; he would subject the world to the of the True
sceptre of the chosen people, and his authority
should radiate from Judea to the ends of the
earth.
Their conception was of a close-knit compact
monarchy with the Messiah as head.
Now when Christ came to correct their false
notions regarding the nature of His kingdom,
He is careful not to disturb their central idea,
nay more, He repeatedly confirms it. A king
dom indeed, more lasting than the eternal hills,
was to spring from Judea, and a King was already
born whose authority was to stretch out-spread
ing as the canopy of heaven ; His power, how-
* Matt. xn. 28.
II
The Straight Path
ever, will not rest on human arms ; His throne
will need no support from spears or bucklers ; in
a word, His kingdom was not to be of this world.
So far from destroying their picture of a
kingdom He leaves it unchanged, only substitut
ing the colours of heaven for those of earth.
Such was the kingdom of God that was at hand.
Now inseparably associated with our first
notions of a kingdom is the idea of one supreme
ruler, and one set of laws acknowledged and
obeyed by the body of his subjects.
Should two rulers claim absolute authority
within the same territory and demand the allegi
ance of the same people, then our concept of a
kingdom crumbles, and we see instead a land
torn by rival factions.
But Christ describes His Church not only as
a kingdom but as the kingdom of God on earth
wherein should be reflected the splendid har
mony and unity of the Church in heaven where
the choirs of angels, and the spirits of the just
made perfect unite to do homage to Him " that
sitteth on the throne ".
More, He warns us of the weakness and de
struction that must come from division " Every
kingdom divided against itself shall be made de
solate ".* Its doom is sealed !
* Matt. xii. 25.
12
The True Church must be One
Surely it was not on this model of desolate
destruction that Christ founded His Church,
" For He is not the God of dissension but of
peace".* He could not leave His Church a
prey to turmoil, the sport of faction, the laugh
ing stock of His enemies.
Then if we find a Church composed of dis
tinct, independent parties, acknowledging rival
rulers, professing antagonistic creeds, how can
such a Church, or rather group of Churches,
justify its comparison to a kingdom ? but, above
all, how could it be spoken of as the kingdom of
God ? Would it not bear a far closer resem
blance to the kingdoms of Satan where dissen
sion and the spirit of discord rule ?
Our Lord also compares His Church to a A sheep-
sheepfold : " And other sheep I have, that are fold-
not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and
they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one
fold, and one shepherd," t " Feed My lambs/'
<c Feed My sheep ".
In describing His Church as a sheepfold, and
addressing His first Pope as a shepherd, Christ
gives a clear-cut and definite image of unbroken
unity ; He sets up a picture that rejects even
the remotest idea of distinct Churches or dis-
* i Cor. xiv. 33. t John x. 16 ; John xxi. 15, 17.
13
The Straight Path
cordant faiths or diverse pastors. A sheepfold
having but one door and one shepherd.
The sheep of the same flock cling together,
and if momentarily separated they are eager to
be reunited ; they follow the same path ; browse
on the same pasture. The shepherd knows them
all by name ; he loves them, he leads them to
the plains of health and plenty. What more
beautiful illustration of the undivided unity of
the flock of Christ, of the oneness and tender
care of the chief shepherd, nourishing their in
tellects with the undefiled teaching, and feeding
their souls with the sacraments, warning them
off the poison food of unrighteous teaching ; at
the sound of his voice they flee from the wiles
of the false shepherds who are wolves in dis
guise.
And as if this image of unity as a distinguish
ing mark of His true Church was not sufficiently
impressive, He abandons the figurative for
literal language and plainly says : —
" There shall be one sheepfold, and one shep
herd ".
A House. " Be you also as living stones built up, a
spiritual house." * Here again we have a meta
phor strongly enforcing the idea of unbroken
unity in the true Church of Christ.
* i Peter n. 5.
14
The True Church must be One
She is not only spoken of as an ordinary house
where the members are bound together by the
warm ties of domestic affection, sheltered under
the one roof, sharing the one table, and gov
erned by the natural head of the home ; but the
picture is enlarged and its colours heightened by
likening the family of the New Law to the house
hold of Israel marching under the leadership of
Moses. In this comparison they saw a close
bound society, animated by one spirit, ruled by
one heaven-elected leader, and living under de
finite laws.
" You are the temple of God, and the spirit of ATempie.
God dwelleth in you." * A temple is composed
of a variety of materials that harmoniously com
bine to form one undivided structure ; marble
and brick, cedar and iron coalesce to make one
temple. So the true Church would be dis
tinguished if though made up of various races,
differing in tongue, colour, blood and nationality,
all would be found held together in the bond
of an unbroken faith, producing not discordant
factions but one Church.
This image of unity is perfect, especially so
when we recollect the purpose of the Apostle.
He was writing to people who were converts,
some from Judaism and some from pagan-
* i Cor. in. 16.
15
The Straight Path
ism. They had dragged into the Church
their mutual jealousies and prejudices with the
result that discord raged amongst them. This
spirit of dissension he wants to cure. How?
By reminding them that though they were one
time estranged and antagonized, all that is now
changed. The great Artificer has taken the raw
material — Jew and Gentile — and combined them
as living stones into the structure of His temple
—His Church. Since they are now cemented
together by a living faith. Old-time hatreds
should die and the spirit of charity amongst
them should resemble the unbroken faith they
profess. Here is his reasoning :
If different heads or creeds or worship could
find a place in the true Church, St. Paul's ar
gument for undivided charity amongst the
Corinthians would not only fall to the ground
but fall covered with ridicule.
A Tree " ^ne kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of
mustard-seed, which indeed is the least of all
seeds ; but when it is grown up ... and be-
cometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come,
and dwell in the branches thereof." *
Here again is the leading feature of unity.
The tiny seedling planted in Judea was to
overshadow the world and yet remain one. One
* Matt. xni. 31, 32.
16
The True Church must be One
seed, one trunk, one taproot wound round the
rock — Peter.
Though its branches spread on every side they
all spring from a parent trunk, and draw their
sap from a common source.
So the true Church would be known if her
scattered millions, separated by oceans and conti
nents, would be found united to the same trunk,
nourished by the same faith.
Here we have Christ and His apostles speak
ing at different times, in different places, and be
fore different audiences, using a variety of figures,
imaging forth the likeness of the true Church.
Each and every figure gives an idea — if of any
thing — of the grandest and most perfect unity.
She is a body, a kingdom, a sheepfold, a house,
a temple, a tree.
Nowhere do we find Him speaking of churches
" Upon this rock I will build My Church," not
My churches.
When the gathering shadows of His approach- Christ',
ing passion were closing around Him ; seated Prayer-
with His twelve first bishops for the last time
before His passion — in the supper chamber at
Jerusalem, He raised His eyes and His voice
to His eternal Father and poured forth a prayer
for His apostles and for the Church now con
fided to their charge, in which the warm glow
17 2
The Straight Path
of passionate affection, tinged with the pathos of
sorrow, flows through every verse. He asks :
" That they may be one, as Thou, Father, in Me,
and I in Thee, that they also may be one in Us ;
that the world may believe that Thou hast sent
Me : . . . that they may be one, as We also
are one. I in them, and Thou in Me : that
they may be made perfect in one : and that the
world may know that Thou hast sent Me,
and hast loved them, as Thou also hast loved
Me."*
Here He asks His eternal Father for a con
vincing sign, a seal from heaven, a distinguishing
mark to convince the world of the truth of His
mission, and the divinity of His Church.
" And not for them only do I pray, but for
those also who through their word shall believe
in Me." f
He asks for no loose union but for the closest
and most perfect, modelled on the most absolute
of unions — the union between Christ and His
Father ; one in substance, one in nature, one in
essence. " That they may be one as Thou,
Father, in Me, and I in Thee."
He asks this gift for a special purpose ; as an
argument unconquerable and invincible in proof
of His Church's divinity.
* John xvii. 21, 23. f Ibid.
18
The True Church must be One
" That the world may know that Thou hast
sent Me, and hast loved them as Thou also hast
loved Me."
" Give a proof, O eternal Father, and a con
vincing proof of My Church's divinity, seal upon
her brow the stamp of her heavenly birth which
she will carry to unborn ages, and through the
revolving cycles of time, to convince humanity
that Thou lovest her as Thou lovest Me, and let
that heavenly seal be UNITY amongst her mem
bers that will reflect the divine harmony between
Thee and Me."
" As there are many rays of light, but one
sun," says St. Cyprian, " many branches but one
root, many streams but one source, so the Church
sends forth her rays over the whole earth, yet the
light is one and its unity is undivided."
II.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS ONE.
HAVING, I think, conclusively established the
fact that in founding His Church, Christ wished
her to be one through every age and nation, that
her unity was to constitute one of the character-
marks of her divine origin :
Let us glance around the world and ask, What
Church to-day do we find endowed with this
19 2 *
The Straight Path
One in luminous seal of a heavenly birth ? The answer
Govern- rises to eyery iip__The Catholic Church and the
Catholic Church alone.
In her march over twenty centuries of time
and through a world of perpetual change, she
alone remains unchanged.
During the past twenty centuries great nations
have risen, flourished, and then vanished to join the
shadows of things that were. Thrones whose
deep foundations went down through a thousand
years tottered and fell. Vast empires have risen
the world over and met and clashed like the
waves on the bosom of the troubled sea only to
dissolve and pass away. Kingship, empire, and
republic had each its day. The phases of society
have changed like the varying colours of a dying
sunbeam. Yet through all this change the
government of God's Church remains as un
altered as is the divine Author to whom she
owes her birth.
Two hundred and sixty-four millions of Catho
lics to-day recognize in Pius X the supreme Vicar
and representative of Christ on earth with the
same passionate devotion, the same unswerving
loyalty as the early Christians tendered St. Peter
when he presided at the first Council of the
Church.
A fact of overpowering splendour !
20
The True Church must be One
Great dynasties die like flowers of the field,
Great empires wither and fall ;
Glories there have been that blazed to the stars ;
They have been — and that is all.
But there is the grand old Roman See
The ruins of earth among,
Young with the youth of its early prime,
With the strength of Peter strong.*
The fact that on more than one occasion there
were rival claimants for the Papal throne by no
means weakened the unity of government ; for
Catholics, from end to end of Christendom,
never wavered in their belief that there was but
one supreme pastor over all the Church : a
principle that Protestants cannot accept without
ceasing to be Protestants — their only difficulty
was, Which of the rivals was the true Pope ?—
How many claimants there have been for the
English crown, Yet how has that fact weakened
the oneness of the kingship ? Catholics wisely
trusted time to adjust the dispute and finally lead
all parties to recognize the lawful Pontiff.
In a world where men's minds are perpetually one in
changing and contradictory, the articles of Ca- *
tholic faith remain as unchanged as the God Who
gave them. The twelve articles drawn up in the
first century are, to-day, after two thousand years,
sounding harmoniously like twelve notes of cease-
* Dr. Murray.
21
The Straight Path
less music in the ears of over two hundred and sixty
million Catholics, without one scintilla of change.
Summon before you the countless millions of
Catholics who have died during the past nineteen
centuries. Call from the dust of the Coliseum
the myriad martyrs of the first century who were
taught by the Apostles : invite the swarthy shades
of the Africans who drank in the silver elo
quence of Cyprian, or listened with rapture to the
thunders of Tertullian in the second and third
centuries : from the banks of the Nile and
Thames call those who were taught by the great
Athanasius, and England's first apostle in the
fourth and sixth. Let your voice sound through
the crypts of Notre Dame or through the vaults
of Germany to those who were baptized by Boni
face in the eighth century. Call a representative
of every age and every clime, of every colour
and every tongue and arrange them in a circle
around you.
Stand in the centre of that circle and put the
question to each : What was the faith taught in
your age and country ? and see if in a single iota
of doctrine these representatives of countless
millions and long centuries differ among them
selves or from us. *
* In the fourth chapter this evidence from antiquity will be found
not only possible but eminently practical.
22
The True Church must be One
Test it for yourselves. Cast your eyes over
the world to-day, over every land these two hun
dred and sixty-four millions of Catholics are to
be found in — that is, over every land God's sun
shines on — and see if there is a single divergence
in their faith, worship, or government.
Let an Irishman go to wherever the Catholic
doctrine is preached be it in the musical
language of France or the rough dialect of the
Slav ; let him wander through the cinnamon
groves of Persia, or among the dusky races of
China or Japan, and he will find himself as
much at home as in his own parish church ; and
the doctrine taught identical with that held in
St. Peter's by the Tiber.
" Though spread over the world," says St.
Irenaeus, the Church preserves the apostolic faith
with the utmost zeal as if she dwelt in one
house ; she believes it as if she had but one mind
and one heart ; and with admirable accord she pro
fesses and teaches it as if she had but one tongue.
The languages of the world may differ but the
faith is everywhere the same."
Forty-four years only have gone by since
the world saw these words verified and illus- Vatican
trated by a spectacle of unparalleled splendour. council.
The voice of the supreme Pontiff went forth
summoning the universal episcopate to General
23
The Straight Path
Council at Rome. That voice was heard and
obeyed at the farthest ends of the earth. From
the far off islands of the South Pacific, from the
northern regions of polar white, from across
the vast plains of Africa and the scorching sands
of India the world's bishops hastened to Rome.
Like the towering cedars of Lebanon seven
hundred and sixty-seven mitred heads were
reared around the throne of Peter ; they repre
sented over thirty different nations, varying in
colour, in language, in thought, in laws ; differ
ing in everything under the sun save and except
in the Church's immutable faith, and in her
children's unswerving loyalty to Christ's Vicar.
Two hundred and sixty-four millions of men
spoke through the lips of those bishops. Yet
as each came forward to make his profession
of faith, Was there a divergence, a contradic
tion ? No. They spoke as if they all lived in
one house, as if that vast multitude had but one
heart and one tongue.
Three centuries had rolled by since the
Fathers of the Church had met in Council be
fore. These three hundred years had marked
a change in all things save the immutable faith
of God's Church. Laws and opinions were
transformed ; empires dissolved ; the very habit
of thought was changed ; yet here is the universal
24
The True Church must be One
episcopate met from every point of the compass,
with a faith as pure, as unchanged, as united as
when the last notes of the Te Deum died in the
great Council hall of Trent three hundred years
before.
What power could hold two hundred and
sixty-four millions of men united for three-
hundred years, for one year, for a day, even for
an hour ? No power but the One that created
the one sheepfold, gave it a living breath, and
armed the One Shepherd with His own author
ity.
III.
NO OTHER CHURCH IS ONE.
OUTSIDE the Catholic Church, Do we find unity No Unity
in doctrine, worship, and government ? — Alas ! of Govern-
in the very face of things there is not even a
pretence of such. How could there be ! The
disruptive fundamental principle of private judg
ment could produce nothing but anarchy and
chaos.
The great question with the most important
Protestant body in these islands is to discover
its own head, if it has one, and surely a body
without a head can scarcely claim to be a divine
production.
There are three great Protestant powers, Eng-
25
ment.
The Straight Path
land, Germany, and America. Do we find a
shred, a pretence of unity amongst them ? Do
we find it even in one nation ? England alone
has two hundred and twenty mutually destructive
and contradictory Christian bodies. Narrow the
question down even to one city and listen to a
Protestant minister bewailing the divisions and
dissensions of his church. " In the city of Rome,
the city of the papacy, as if to supply Roman
Catholics with conclusive arguments against the
Reformation, the handful of Protestants— four
thousand in number — are divided into nineteen
different denominations."
NO Unity Narrow the question still further. Take
Faith, twenty men coming out of the same church
door. Get their independent views even on
vital matters and you will find them as far apart
as the east is from the west.
Cleavage and contradiction are not confined to
the flock, the shepherds in high places blow dis
cordant trumpets.
It is surely a question of first magnitude to
know, How many sacraments Our Lord left us ?
Some say five, some three, and others one. It
is surely a question of prime importance for the
Protestant layman to know, Is his minister a
truly ordained, sacrificing priest? The Arch
bishop of York informs them he is, his Lordship
26
The True Church must be One
of Liverpool says, such teaching comes not from
above — but from below.
What is the poor distracted layman to do in
such a babel of confusion ?
But why waste words in proving facts so
obvious !
It is only by contrast with such exhibitions of
helpless disorder that we see the full majesty,
the cohesive splendour and unbroken unity of
the Catholic Church.
Spread through nations the most diverse,
running down through twenty centuries of time
—time affecting all things else yet leaving her
untouched — her voice rises from the east and
from the west, from the fringes of northern
snows and from the tropical isles of the south,
yet not a note of dissonance, not a syllable of
change. By whatever tongue the faith is pro
fessed, be it Celtic or Arabic, Teuton or Slav,
the sounds may differ but the substance of the
words remains the same, Unity in multiplicity,
harmony in variety marks her everywhere.
Wise men of old were struck by the unchang- Con_
ing unity, the unbroken harmony that governed elusion,
the laws of nature. Wherever the impress of
God's hand appeared there was an absence of
disorder.
They marked the marvellous unity of the
27
The Straight Path
planetary system. Each planet moving in its
appointed sphere, yet all controlled by a central
power. They saw the regular ebb and flow of
the tide, the rise and set of the sun, the unvaried
succession of seasons ; and they justly reasoned :
the Author of such harmony must be divine.
In nature's unity they discovered nature's God.
Now if men can behold His perfections
mirrored in the sunlit sea ; if they can hear His
voice in the tempest roar ; if they can see His
power in the falling leaf and the opening bud ;
if in characters of flame they can read His
majesty across the stary splendours of the
heavens ; if His attributes are so visible in the
elements of clay, How much more luminous
should not His perfections shine in the life, con
stitution, and changeless unity of His living
master-piece, His chosen spouse, His One, Holy,
Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
28
CHAPTER II.
THE HOLINESS OF THE TRUE CHURCH.
I.
THE TRUE CHURCH SHOULD BE HOLY.
" Husbands, love your wives, as Christ has loved the
Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might
sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word
of life, that He might present it to Himself a glorious
Church, not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing ;
but that it should be holy and without blemish." J
IN this chapter we come to consider the second
mark or note of the true Church — its sanctity.
The true Church should be holy—
1. In her Founder ;
2. In her teaching holy ;
3. In her helps and means conducive to holi
ness ;
4. The fruits of that holiness should be visible
and permanent in her children and works.
Let us first open the Old Testament and read Proofs
the passages descriptive of the Church to be from the
founded by the Messiah.
* Ephes. v. 25.
29
Old Testa
ment.
The Straight Path
u I am appointed king by him over Sion, his
holy mountain." *
" In his days shall justice spring up and abun
dance of peace till the moon be taken away." t
Here Christ through the mouth of His Psalmist
speaks of His future Church as a kingdom, a
figure of speech, as we have seen, repeated by
Himself ; and in describing this kingdom He uses
but one qualifying word. What is it ? Holiness.
" His holy mountain," as if holiness was to be the
special characteristic of His Church. He goes
farther, and declares that that character was to
cling to her for ever. " Till the moon be taken
away."
Isaias then entering this spiritual kingdom,
uplifts the veil and sets before our eyes the happy
condition of things flourishing there. " The
wolf shall dwell with the lamb : and the leopard
shall lie down with the kid : they shall not hurt,
nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain." %
Humanity was so depraved before the advent
of Christ that men, by giving way to passions,
had engrafted on their lives the natures of the
beasts, and are spoken of as wolves, leopards,
asps, but when the new spirit would pour itself
over the earth all this would change, the wolfish
feuds would die, and the asp-like tongues would
* Ps. ii. 6. t Ps. LXXI. 7. % Isaias xi. 6-9.
30
The Holiness of the True Church
drip with charity because the God of peace would
establish His kingdom ; and the men once
likened to asps and wolves would then show the
white innocence of the harmless lamb, and their
sweet lives flow unoffending as the suckling
babe's.
When before his mystic gaze the marvellous
transformation passed, when he saw the chains of
the old slavery falling off ; the brutish passions
dying ; the reign of innocent harmony estab
lished, and the beauteous daughters of religion-
purity, innocence, and love — springing up, his
heart glowed with rapturous admiration and he
hails this glorious spouse, this royal kingdom,
this future Church :—
" Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand
of the Lord, thou shalt be called My pleasure in
her . . . because the Lord hath been well pleased
with thee. And the bridegroom shall rejoice
over the bride, and thy God shall rejoice over
thee." *
Here the Church of Christ is described as a
crown of glory, the object of His pleasure and
His rapturous love.
Now in a thousand places in Sacred Scripture
sinners are spoken of as objects of God's hatred
—at most of His mercy — but never as objects of
t Isaias LXII. 3-5,
31
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His love. How could He love them ? Rebels
against His authority, allies of His sworn foe.
The just and the just alone can be the objects of
God's love. " He that hath My commandments,
and keepeth them : he it is that loveth Me.
And he that loveth Me shall be loved by My
Father : and I will love Him, and will manifest
Myself to Him."* But if His Church had
ceased to love Him, had ceased to keep His
commandments, had defected and fallen away,
it may in all reason be asked, How could such a
Church be described as His crown of glory, His
pleasure, the object over which He rejoices as the
bridegroom over his new-made bride ?
Proofs When we turn from the Old to the New
from the Testament, the figures increase in point, cogency,
New Tes- j i
and clearness.
lament.
We have heard Isaias comparing the Church
to a spouse. St. Paul taking up this comparison
explains and justifies it. " Husbands, love your
wives, as Christ has loved the Church." He
tells them to love and cherish their wives with
pure and tender love as Christ does His Church,
for the tie between them resembles in its close
ness, its intimacy, and its everlasting nature the
bond of devoted love that unites Christ to His
Church.
* John xiv. 21.
32
The Holiness of the True Church
Good order requires that everything in
heaven and on earth shall be holy in proportion
to the closeness of its relation with God, like as
the planets in our solar system increase in heat
and light according to their nearness to the sun.
For this reason Mary, whose relation to God
was that of a mother towards her child, should
be u full of grace " and u blessed among
women ". For the same reason the priest should
be more' holy than the layman. Now what
stronger method of expressing the sanctity of
the Church than to compare her union with
Christ to the most perfect union this world
knows — the union between man and wife ;
to speak of her as the spouse of Christ " with
out spot or wrinkle " " holy and without
blemish ? "
When God cast a deep sleep upon Adam, He
took from his side a portion of his substance
and from it formed, and presented to Adam a
being the most like unto himself in all crea
tion — flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, He
united them in bonds of mutual love, He
blessed and sanctified the union of the first
pair. In like manner, when the sleep of death
crept over the Second Adam on the Cross His
side too was opened and blood and water issued
forth. From this substance did Christ form
33 3
The Straight Path
The Re
formers.
His Church, to be His cherished spouse, the
object of His complacent love.
When the Reformers of the sixteenth century
ask us to believe that the Church — spoken of as
the spouse of Christ, without spot or wrinkle,
whose sanctity was to remain till the moon be
taken away, the Church with which Christ was
to be all days — that that same Church had
become corrupted in soul and body, they ask us
to believe that Christ did not, or perhaps was
not able to keep His promise of abiding with her
for ever, to guide, preserve, and direct ; and that
St. Paul knew very little of the Church he was
describing when he spoke of her as u glorious,"
" holy," and " without blemish ". These un
proved and improbable assertions we are asked
to accept on the authority of men attempting
to justify their own apostacy.
The Apos- We now turn from those figures so clear and
definite to read the Apostolic commission. " All
power is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Go
ye, therefore, and teach all nations : baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost : Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you ; and behold I am with you all days, even
to the consummation of the world." *
* Matt, xxviii. 18-20.
34
tolic Com
mission.
The Holiness of the True Church
Christ gathers the eleven around Him before
sending them forth, and in the clearest terms
defines their duty — to dispel the clouds of dark
ness that hung above the intellects of men, "Going
therefore, teach all nations," to purify their souls
by baptism and gather them into the Church,
there to teach them " all things " —not only the
precepts that bind under sin, but the counsels to
rise to higher levels of perfection. And in that
mission for the sanctifying and instructing of
humanity, He assures them that the strength of
His right arm will be by them not for three or
four hundred years but as long as men are to be
taught, and souls to be made holy. " All days
even to the consummation of the world."
Are we then to believe, in the light of
this commission, and especially with the
guarantee Christ has given for its success, that
the Church so commissioned, and so shadowed
by His protecting power, became not the fruitful,
mother of saints but that the curse of barren
ness attended her, and that the blight of failure
paralyzed her efforts? No, for these same
apostles He tells, " I have chosen you, and have
appointed you, that you should go, and should
bring forth fruit, and your fruit should re
main "
* John xv. 16.
35 3*
The Straight Path
The Every society is founded for a fixed, definite
Purpose purpose. One to promote social intercourse,
for which r .
Christ another to advance the interests or trade, a third,
estab- perhaps, to cultivate literary tastes. Now the
Chhuerdchthe sole PurPose for which Christ founded His
Church was to sanctify human souls ; to make
men holy ; to train them to model their lives
on their Divine Master's. Here is the very
raison d'etre of her existence. She was not
called into this world to build railways, to estab
lish factories, or to make alliances. In her eyes a
condemned wretch once steeped in crime, now
sobbing contrition at the foot of the gallows, is
of vastly greater importance than the defeat of
an Armada or the discovery of a new world.
Her one aim is to sanctify human souls. For
this alone God established her. Take away that
end and What meaning would her presence in
this world have ? Would she not stand like
some obelisk torn from a civilization long since
passed ? — a lonesome object of wonder, and of
interest only to the antiquarian and the curious ?
Was it for this barren purpose Christ estab
lished His Church ? Rather was it not that she
might constitute a living, energizing power,
operating through her multiform activities on
the restless masses around her, struggling to
break the fetters of sin-bound souls ; pouring
36
The Holiness of the True Church
in light where darkness reigned, sending the
precious Blood flowing over human hearts ; and
causing the fair flowers of fragrant virtue to
flourish ?
She was to continue Christ's mission ; and
He has left us in no doubt what the object of
that mission was — not to call the just, but sinners
to repentance, — to cast fire upon the earth.
This is her mission too ; this is the grand goal
towards which all her energies converge, and if
she accomplishes it she triumphs. It matters
little in what condition she achieves that con
quest, be it in the blood of the Catacombs or
the rags of penal poverty.
On the other hand, though the splendour of
her liturgy and the stateliness of her ceremonial
challenged the world's admiration, though her
Doctors were rich in learning, though the highest
artistic genius triumphed in her temples, yet if
she succeeded not in sanctifying humanity, if
none, or only few amongst her children were
found with the spirit or works of holiness ; then
indeed would her mission have failed ; the sceptre
would have fallen from the royal hand of Juda,
the gates of hell would have prevailed and the
promise of the living God been made void.
We see the Church called the " body of
Christ," " His spouse," " His kingdom," " His
37
The Straight Path
temple ". Now if these words imply anything
it is eminent and abiding holiness. How could
she be His spouse if her members were, in most
part, divorced from Him by sin ? How could
she be called the body of Christ if from the vast
portion of her children the spirit of Christ had
departed ? If so far from being animated by
His spirit she had become a corpse? How
could she be His kingdom if not the spirit of
Christ but the spirit of Satan reigned within
her ? How His temple if instead of enshrining
His spirit, and being illuminated by His teach
ing she had become polluted and accursed ?
We have reviewed the question on every side,
and at each step of the enquiry the light grew
brighter and the conviction sank deeper that one
of the most conspicuous marks destined by God
to distinguish His true Church was the character
of sanctity or holiness.
I hope to convince the reader that the Catholic
Church alone can produce this credential of her
authority.
II.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS HOLY.
We claim that :—
1. The Church is holy in her Founder.
2. Holy in her teaching.
38
The Holiness of the True Church
3. Holy in the effective aids she gives.
4. Holy in the body of her members, and the
fruit they have produced.
Here let us anticipate a difficulty. A Diffi-
What do we mean when we say the body of culty an-
the Church is holy ? Do we imply that every
individual Catholic is a shining model of sanc
tity ? Alas ! the lives of many are a shame to
the faith they profess.
But surely that does not militate against the
sanctity of the Church. St. Paul calls the
Church at Corinth a congregation of saints,
though he reproves some scandalous members
amongst them. Considering human nature as
it is constituted, is not this what might be ex
pected? Every man has free will to become
either a saint or a sinner. God forces no one.
" Behold, I set before you the way of life, and
the way of death." * Man is free to select either
of these paths — the path that leads to perdition,
or the path that leads to paradise.
Our Lord warned us that scandals would
come ; and He compares His Church to a net
enclosing fish, some bad and some good, await
ing the day of separation ; to a field where the
grain and cockle grow side by side till the coming
of the harvest scythe.
* Jer. xxi. 8.
39
The Straight Path
Why then, you may ask, does the Church not
shake off those unworthy Catholics ? Why does
she not cast those lives of shame from out her
communion ? — Her charity forbids it.
Like another Monica, she for ever turns with
tearful eyes and a sighing heart towards her
erring child ; with prayers she storms heaven
that her poor prodigal will one day find peace
in his father's arms.
Nor does the occasional fall of a great man
tell against her character of holiness. Sin found
its way amongst the angels in heaven. Sin crept
in amidst the fair bowers of Paradise. The little
band of twelve that Christ selected from all the
children of Adam's race held a traitor. For
three years their minds were enriched by the
doctrine that flowed from His lips, and their
faith confirmed by the daily wonders of His
power. They saw the tempest quelled when His
outstretched hand was raised above its fury.
They beheld Him pour the visual ray upon the
sightless eyeballs of the blind, the dumb tongues
loosened, and the leprous wretches cleansed. Yet,
in a body so privileged, one Judas was found.
We may be shocked then and cry, O star of
the morning, how art thou fallen ? With these
examples before us, how can we be surprised ?
Indeed, an isolated scandal, so far from dim-
40
The Holiness of the True Church
ming the Church's lustre, calls forth a unique
testimony in her favour : her enemies uncon
sciously bear witness to her holiness. For while
the non-Catholic world takes little heed of the
frequent delinquencies of its own clergymen, let
a Catholic priest fall from his high estate and
mark how Press and platform ring with his name
and shame. There is no mistaking that cry of
astonished surprise. It is the world testifying
to the sanctity of the Catholic Church, and de
claring that it expects a standard of holiness in
her ministers nowhere else to be found.
The tree of fairest blossom will always
have its sapless branch and withered leaves. In
the Church, the tares are permitted to grow
alongside the wheat till the angel reapers come.
There will always be a Judas to betray and a
Peter to deny.
But what we do mean is this : We call the
body of the Church " holy" in the same sense
as men call the city of London " rich ". The
wealth of London is so evident and so promin
ent that she deserves the title rich, though within
her gates are thousand of paupers, and thousands
more who live from hand to mouth.
i . That her Founder was God, the Author of Holy in
all sanctity, there is no necessity to prove since
no one denies it. Teaching.
The Straight Path
2. That the matter of her teaching conduces
to the highest sanctity is equally plain ; but she
teaches in a manner different from all others. A
school of philosophy may in timorous accents ad
vise the pursuit of virtue ; but it neither speaks
with authority nor offers a means of translating
its advice into fact. The most emphatic pro
nouncement of a Protestant Church never rises
above a guess. The fatal doctrine of private
judgment has broken the backbone of its teach
ing authority ; in the echo of every sentence we
hear the suppressed whisper, " Perhaps I am
wrong ".
Far different is it with the Catholic Church.
She comes clothed with the power of Christ's
ambassador. She speaks with the authority of
Him Who declares " He that hears you, hears
Me ". There is no faltering in her accents :
it is the voice of the " pillar and ground of
truth ".
Hoiyinthe 3. She not only persuades the intellect with
Aids she fae certitude of Revelation, but she supplies ef-
Gives. r . . . c
ncient means to make her teaching concrete fact.
She is not content with pointing to higher levels
and crying " Excelsior," but at every stage of the
upward journey the strong and loving arm is
folded around us, and her cheering voice is ring
ing in our hearts.
42
The Holiness of the True Church
Let us enter and uplift the veil of the inner TheSacra-
sanctuary, and watch her sacramental system
operating on the hearts of men. The sacraments
are seven channels by which she irrigates and
fertilizes the souls of her children with the pre
cious Blood.
A child is born but the dark shadow of a
primeval curse rests upon it ; that infant soul she
takes in her arms and breathes her words of
power above it. At the touch of the regenerat
ing waters the leprosy of sin flies, a new life
springs up within, and that soul now glows with
the beauty of the divine. As a piece of iron
thrust into the furnace flames, sparkles, and as
sumes the appearance of the fire which penetrates
it, so the flashing splendour of God Himself fills
and plays around that infant soul.
If a newly baptized soul were to appear above
the tabernacle, the blaze of its glory would dazzle
us, we would fall prostrate and adore, thinking
it was God Himself.
The Church now becomes its mother, and when
the powers of the young mind open and grow
hungry for knowledge she feeds it with the milk
of sacred truth ; gives tone, colour and trend to
the budding powers of reason.
Another stage is reached. The young soldier
is now facing life's battle. The war between the
43
The Straight Path
conscience and the passions begins to rage within
his breast, and lo ! she anoints him with the
strengthening chrism of confirmation ; arms him
with the seven-fold gifts ; shadows him with the
pentecostal spirit ; blesses and sends him forth to
conquer in her name.
Alas ! in an evil hour he strays from the walls
of Jerusalem, is waylaid and wounded unto death
by robber passions ; the world, the flesh, and the
devil have assailed him. Who is the good Sa
maritan kneeling by his side ? The Church.
Her ear is upon his lips, and when he sobs out his
tale of sorrow, she pours in the oil of strength
and the wine of hope.
He is weak from his wounds, and she carries
him to the inn — her own sanctuary. She places
his lips to the open Heart and he drinks of the
Blood that is drink indeed — the wine that brings
forth virgins.
And now young manhood's prime is reached,
and she leads him to her altar, there to sanctify
the affections of his heart in the marriage state.
Or perhaps the voice of the turtle is heard in
the land — the voice of the Holy Ghost calling
him to the sanctuary that he may stand at her
altar, immolate the Sacred Victim and offer the
precious Blood for the sins of the people. And
over his prostrate form she prays that God may
44
The Holiness of the True Church
consecrate and sanctify her young levite, and en
dow him with power to walk through the fiery
furnace of temptation unscorched.
The final hour is now at hand and the soul
trembles on the threshold of eternity. Lo ! the
watchful mother is there with her last unction to
nerve it for the final struggle ; so that no spirit
of evil may stand upon its path, or impede its
upward flight.
Nor does her solicitude cease with the final
pulse beat. The clay around our bones she
sanctifies, and in her daily Sacrifice pleads our
pardon.
I need not remind you that the religion of a
Catholic is not a thing for Sundays and holidays
only, but a permanent, abiding factor in his daily
life. The morning prayer, the daily Mass, the
thrice-rung Angelus, the evening Rosary, the
ever open doors of our churches, and the adorers
before the tabernacle show the holiness of the
Church.
Our Lord says, " I am the vine ; you are the Holiness
branches ; he that abideth in Me, and I in him,
the same beareth much fruit : " * Let us now
look for that fruit in the children of the Catholic
Church.
Take up the lives of her Saints and point, if
* John xv. 5.
45
The Straight Path
you can, to a single virtue that can adorn
humanity that is not found here in fairest bloom.
What variety ! What splendour !
The fiery heart of St. Francis Xavier panting
for conquest, the child martyrs St. Agnes and
St. Pancratius triumphing over the furies of the
Colosseum, St. Vincent de Paul tugging at the
galleys to free a slave, or warming a forsaken
child on the bosom of his love.
What does this world hold comparable to the
long bead roll of the Church's heroes ?
Turn to our books of devotion and mark the
waves of flame poured out from hearts that are
furnace houses of God's purest love. No dull
formulae, no cold platitudes ! The leaves of our
prayer-books are fragrant with the sweetest es
sence of piety. The sanctified hearts of her
children speak through their pages.
Holiness 4' -^ut ^et us ^ our C7es anc* ^°°^ further
in her afield, and see the monuments to the Church's
Works. holiness in the works she has accomplished.
When two disciples came from St. John the
Baptist to our Lord asking, " Art thou He that
art to come, or do we look for another ? " what
answer does He give them? — " Go and relate to
John what you have heard and seen. The blind
see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have
The Holiness of the True Church
the gospel preached to them." The question
was, Are you divine ? The answer, Look to
My works, Are they not divine ? Read then
My divinity in My works ; and as a culminating
proof that I am divine, tell John that the poor
have the gospel preached to them.
If a similar question were put to the Catholic
Church to-day, could she not give a like reply ?
You ask am I divine? — Look to my works,
let them speak. Go into the cities where I re
side and see there the fairest heights are crowned
by stately structures which shelter the poor and
the helpless ; for the outcast elements of society
I have reserved my finest palaces. Enter and
see My chosen spouses, whom I wear as a seal
upon My Heart consecrating there lives of de
voted love to their service.
The orphan waif from the city slums finds a
mother and a home, they are folding to their
stainless bosoms the creature whose life was once
the synonym of shame — the penitent girl whom a
cruel world wrecked, then trampled on and cast
aside like a broken toy.
No, look for no other, I am she that was to
come.
See them facing the terrors of the cholera
ship or the cancer ward, look into the lanes
* Matt. xi. 3-5.
47
The Straight Path
and alleys where ragged want and despair are
found ; My chosen ones are breaking the crust
to the hungry lips, and lighting the dying eyes
with hope that beams from the Crucifix.
No, look for no other, I am she that was to
come.
The war blast now rings upon the air, and the
fiercest passions of man's basest blood are all
ablaze. Through the live-long day the furnace
flame from the batteries, the rattle of musketry
and the clash of sabres announce death to thou
sands. Lo, from the vaulted blue of the mid
night skies, the peaceful moonbeam lights up the
Crucifix in the Sister's hand as she presses it to
the lips of the dying soldier.
No, look for no other, I am she that was to
come.
Moiokai. Turn to those islands of tropical palms
washed by the waters of the South Pacific — they
are the leper settlements of Moiokai.
Where Nature's smiles are fairest, the darkest
of human curses has found a home. The very
air wafts poison. Those wretched souls are
not wedded to living bodies but to putrid
corpses.
The stony cry of the Old Law was " Room
for the leper " . An outcast, he dwelt among
the tombs, the public roads he dare not walk,
48
The Holiness of the True Church
of the running stream he dare not drink. Away,
unclean !
Behold, from the shores of distant Europe,
swept onward by the flame of charity, bands of
devoted priests and nuns are hurrying to tend
those suffering children of Christ, and finally to
share their doom.
No, look for no other, I am she that was to come.
The leper is cleansed, the poor have the gospel
preached to them.
Who flashed the light of truth across the mid
night skies of pagan darkness in China and
Japan ? Who watered every province with their
richest blood ? Who carried, at the peril of their
lives, My message to the swarthy Ethiopian, and
the dusky children of the southern isles ? The
apostles of My Church. Here are her works
divine.
Then, look for no other, she it is that was to
come.
I may be reminded of philanthropy outside Phiian-
the Church. I gladly acknowledge it, but we thr°py-
must draw a very broad line of distinction be
tween individual philanthropy and those vast or
ganizations of charity which are the natural
outgrowth of the Church's life, and that have
accompanied her as attendant shadows in every
land where she has found a home.
49 4
The Straight Path
she Sane- Not only does she sanctify social but national
na
Lifet A nation's mind illumined by faith can never
be torn from high ideals ; and a nation's heart
fed by her spirit can never degenerate into
grossness.
The writer once heard a foreign infidel deliver
himself thus : —
" I am no Christian, I have little love for the
Catholic Church, but I search in vain through
history for any nation suffering a tithe of Ire
land's slavery that succeeded in retaining virtue
in her daughters and manhood in her sons.
What power enabled Ireland to form so bright
an exception to this universal law ? I must ac
knowledge it. Her faith."
Spain. He need not search in vain. The same faith
sustained another Celtic land through, if possible,
a more fiery ordeal.
While Eastern Christianity, undermined by the
dry rot of heresy, fell under the assaults of con
quest, or sank into degraded barbarism, Catholic
Spain sustained a fight during eight centuries
against the Mohammedan, till at length, gathering
up her strength for one grand effort, she hurled
the dusky curse from off her bosom for ever.
This is the lesson history holds for the young
Irishman of to-day — that but for the strength of
50
The Holiness of the True Church
his father's faith, instead of knowing the mean
ing of the word " liberty " or having the power
to struggle for it, he would find its last spark
had been quenched in blood twenty generations
past, and he himself would be a degraded slave,
kissing the smiter's hand.
Faith fed their souls : she whispered in their
ears eternal hope ; she fixed their eyes on stars
beyond the reach of man : her sustaining power
enabled them to tower above the darkest storms
that burst upon our land.
Look around to-day to those nations that
have attempted to construct civilization on anti-
christian. planks. They are unsound from top
to bottom ; honeycombed with nihilist and Free
mason societies ; and they know not but in their
proudest hour the ground may rock and heave
beneath them in the convulsive throes of revolu
tion.
III.
NO OTHER CHURCH IS HOLY.
Do we find this character of holiness in any Founders,
other Church ?
First, In its founder ? Whenever God raised
up genuine reformers He never left it on the lips
of vice to say of them " Physician heal thyself".
5i 4*
The Straight Path
They were men of eminent holiness — men of the
stamp of Hildebrand, Borromeo, Ignatius and
Alphonsus.
Now if He wished to reform His Church in
the sixteenth century, the most unlikely instru
ments He could select would be Henry VIII of
England and Luther of Germany. Men whose
lives cannot be read without a blush.
Is any other Church holy in fruit ?
Holy in Backed by the gold and bayonets of the most
her wealthy of modern nations, with the expendi-
Works. J .... i • , i . r
ture of millions, and with three centuries for a
trial, Protestantism has failed to raise any race, no
matter how small, from primitive savagery. This
is an appalling fact, a confession of helpless im
potence. How could it be otherwise, since it is
devoid of every weapon, natural and supernatural,
by which such victories are achieved.
The religious orders have ever been the ad
vance guards of missionary enterprise :
Stripped of earthly possessions ; the ties of
home, family and country cut ; trained to dis
cipline, moved by the voice of authority, in pos
session of the sanctifying forces drawn from
Calvary, the fruitful breath of Pentecost upon
their efforts, and every thought of self consumed
in the fire of a single purpose — the salvation of
souls.
52
The Holiness of the True Church
But the first step the Reformers took was to
dissolve these legions of conquest, and what a
poor substitute for these light-armed Francs-
tireurs is even the best-intentioned parson,
encumbered with a wife and family, naturally
anxious about their health and prospects, tied to
the earth by every cord of Adam and armed only
with a Bible of no definite meaning. What a
weak soldier ! What feeble arms !
The Holy Mass and the sacraments are the
main channels by which the precious Blood is
poured over human souls. But the Reformation
abolished the divine Sacrifice, ceased to nourish
humanity with the bread that is " meat indeed,"
diminished the number of sacraments and im
paired their efficacy ; thus closing up the main
sources by which men are sanctified.
Protestantism ignores the evangelical counsels.
" Take up your cross," " Deny yourself," are
maxims rarely if ever heard on her lips. She
never attempted to crush the baser elements in
man. The upward struggles of those who aim
at perfection she does not understand, so far
from this, the whole system aimed at unmuzzl
ing those passions which clamour like hungry
wolves. Every restraint that could hold in
check the vicious tendencies of corrupt nature
she swept aside — celibacy, fasting, obedience to
53
The Straight Path
divinely appointed authority, confession, an un
broken marriage-tie ; licence of intellect and
licence of sensuality got full play. Then, even
if there were no other cause, the absence of fixed
doctrine and definite authority would be sure to
bring enfeeblement.
Is it any wonder that such a system is com
pletely devoid of driving force, that even its su
pernatural character is daily evaporating, that
blight and failure are written large over its every
effort ? Such a feeble instrument is lacking in
every requisite essential to the giant task of up
lifting whole peoples from barbarism into the
light and sweetness of Christian civilization.
In striking contrast to this gigantic failure is
another fact, the most stupendous the world
holds, the fact of a conquest overpowering in its
own magnitude and in the force of the argu
ment it supplies. It is this — That history chal
lenges you to unroll the world's map and , point
to a single nation reclaimed from barbarism and
led into the light of civilization except through
the agency of the Catholic Church. Here is an
argument to ponder on !
No arms with her save the Crucifix in the
hand of her missionary, no power but the power
of Pentecost that overshadows her, and swept
her onwards and upwards from victory to victory.
54
The Holiness of the True Church
Yes, the regeneration of every land in the
past is the work of her hand ; and we feel every
assurance that in the future too she is destined
to give peace and rest to the troubled and doubt
ing millions to-day outside her fold.
55
CHAPTER III.
THE CATHOLICITY OF THE TRUE CHURCH,
I.
THE TRUE CHURCH SHOULD BE CATHOLIC.
what is THE word Catholic is in itself a general term
Meant by meaning universal. This universality or Catho-
Catho- ... , . r . J ,. . .
licity. licity was to be another of those great distinctive
marks by which the true Church could be singled
out from the multitude of false claimants.
She was to be endowed with a triple Catho
licity.
1. She was to be Catholic in point of time.
From the day of Pentecost till the heavens and
the earth be passed away she was to exist. " I
am with you all days, even to the consummation
of the world." *
2. She was to be Catholic in place. She was to
be, not the Church of Judea, or of England, or
of Italy, she was to be the Church of mankind, the
Church of humanity. The entire earth was to be
the theatre of her mission. " Teach all nations."
* Matt, xxvni. 20.
56
Catholicity of the True Church
3. She was to be Catholic in numbers.
The number of her children was to be so
great that at a glance she would be discovered
towering in solitary grandeur above any indi
vidual sect. There was given to her a dignity
and certain splendour in the world by which her
majesty could easily be recognized.
Here let us anticipate a difficulty.
It was never promised that every individual A Diffi-
being, or even every baptized soul should belong cuity Met.
to her communion.
Since man has free will to remain in her
bosom or fall into heresy, exclusive Catholicity
was out of the question.
Neither was it guaranteed that her children
should outnumber those of all the other sects
united — though as a matter of fact they do. It
was promised that compared with any individual
sect her giant proportions should be found to far
outstrip it ; that when men would ask, " Where
is she that counts her children as sands on the
seashore, as stars in the firmament, whose faith
is proclaimed in a multitude of tongues like the
voice of many waters ? " —they could be told,
" Lift up your heads and behold her towering
as a pyramid above the tents, a giant above the
pigmies ".
She calls her sons from the four winds of
57
The Straight Path
Proofs
from the
Old Testa
ment.
Abraham.
Isaias.
heaven, and her glorious title Catholic is written
in characters of light upon her brow.
Such is a statement of the case. We now
proceed to the proofs. If we take up the Old
Testament we see that, from the day the word
went forth that the Woman should crush the
serpent's head, all the prophecies point in the
most explicit manner to the universality or
Catholicity of the Church of the Messiah.
To Abraham it was promised that all genera
tions should be blessed in his seed : this referred
to the Messiah Who was to spring from his
blood : how else could all generations be blessed
in him except by belonging to the Church
through which his blessings flow.
But to belong to that Church her existence
amongst all generations was necessary.
When before the prophetic gaze of the dying
Jacob the uncounted numbers and unlimited
extent of the Messiah's kingdom passed, he ex
claimed, " He shall be the expected of all nations ".
The prophet Isaias tells us that he saw the
house of God lifted above the hills, and all the
nations flowing into its doors. " The mountain
of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on
the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall flow into it." *
* Isaias n. 2.
58
Catholicity of the True Church
This is a description of no small or obscure
Church, but one exalted above the hill-tops for
the world's gaze, towards which the feet of
multitudes turn. And when before his rapturous
vision passed the sight of the limitless empire of
the Messiah, his heart glowed, and he exultingly
addresses the first home of this future Church,
" Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem ; for thy
light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen
upon thee. For behold darkness shall cover the
earth, and a mist the people : but the Lord
shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen
upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy
light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising.
Lift up thy eyes round about, and see ; all these
are gathered together, they are come to thee ;
thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters
shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see
and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be
enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be
converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles
shall come to thee." * Now these terms " all
nations," " all generations," " the multitude of
the sea," must mean vast numbers gathered
from different tribes and peoples.
If we had any doubt on that head when we Psaims.
* Isaias LX. 1-5.
59
The Straight Path
ay down the prophecies, that doubt is dispelled
when we open the psalms.
David sends forth a paean of joy to the apostles
going forth from Jerusalem to spread the good
tidings to the scattered children of Adam.
" Their sound has gone forth into all the earth :
and their words unto the end of the world." *
If these prophecies mean anything, if human
language points conclusively to any one idea,
it is this : that whereas under the Old Law the
true Church was confined to one nation only,
suited exclusively to one people, when the Mes
siah was come, the division walls would be
broken down, the barriers levelled, and His
message carried from end to end of the world.
Proofs When we now lay down the Old and open the
from the New Testament we find the character of Cathol-
New Tes • • i •
icity grows more luminous.
When our Saviour commissioned His apostles
to preach, He assigned to them not one or two
nations but the entire world irrespective of
colour, race, or language. " Go ye, therefore,
and teach all nations." t " Go ye, into the
whole world, and preach the Gospel to every
creature." J This is their credential, this the
scope of their message to " all nations " to " the
whole world ".
* Ps. xvm. 5. t Matt, xxviii. 19. JMark xvi. 15.
60
Catholicity of the True Church
During the forty days He remained with them
after His Resurrection, instructing them in the
nature and government of the Church, He ex
plained the universal scope of their labours.
"Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem,
and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the
uttermost part of the earth." *
Here is described in crystal clearness, as de
finite as human language can make it, the Ca
tholic or universal mission of the Church of
Christ.
When we reflect on the purpose of Christ's Proof
sojourn amongst men, and the object for which Reason.
He established His Church, it stands out clear
and evident that that Church could not be other
wise than Catholic. Was she not to take up
and continue His own mission ? And that
mission was not solely for the men He addressed
in person, the unborn millions of the future had
for Him an equal interest. He could not be
anxious only for the salvation of those on whose
living ears His words fell, and ignore the wants
of their grandchildren. The people born in the
fourth century had as much claim on His love,
and as much need of His message as the people
born in the first.
Neither was His mission limited to one nation.
* Acts i. 8.
61
The Straight Path
His doctrine, His sacraments, His saving helps
were for the west as for the east, for the ice
bound Laplander as well as for the dwellers in
the tents of Palestine. Was He not the Father
of all? But within His brief lifetime it was
impossible to reach them all, therefore a mission
universal in time and universal in space was a
first necessity in the constitution of the Church
destined to continue His work.
I think in whatever light you view this ques
tion, in the light of the prophecies describing the
true Church, in the light of the words com
missioning her first twelve chiefs, or in that of
the purpose for which Her Founder established
her, it becomes clearly evident that the true
Church established by Christ should bear pro
minently upon her brow the triple seal of uni
versality.
She should be : —
1. Catholic in time, her mission stretching up
through the centuries from the days of Christ
till the folding of the heavens.
2. Catholic in place, spreading out to the
confines of the universe.
3. Catholic in the multitude of her children.
I hope to convince the reader that the Church
to which we belong can produce this warrant of
her authority.
62
Catholicity of the True Church
II.
OUR CHURCH IS CATHOLIC.
" Christianity is not a matter of opinion " Catholic
says Cardinal Newman — " it has a bodily oc
cupation in the world. It is one continuous fact
or thing. Where is this thing in this age which
in the first age was the Catholic Church ? The
answer is undeniable : the Church called Catholic
now is that very same thing, in hereditary de
scent, in organization, in principles, in external
relations which was called the Catholic Church
then. 'The name and the thing have ever gone
together'' *
We shall now take up the chain of centuries Pentecost,
link after link from the first moment of her ex
istence till the present hour, and see how in every
age this character of Catholicity is with her ;
how the great Doctors of the past stand forth
and bear witness to the truth of Cardinal New
man's words : " The name and the thing have ever
gone together ". Going back to her very birth-
hour when the Holy Ghost descended on the
Apostles at Pentecost, What remarkable gift
did He bestow upon them ? — The power to speak
and understand many languages. Clearly indi
cating that the message committed to their charge
*" Difficulties of Anglicans," p. 368.
63
The Straight Path
was destined for the various peoples represented
by these divers tongues. Here, while the fire
still trembled above her Apostles' heads, you see
the Church endowed with a Catholicity of
speech.
The \ye reac[ "m the creeci drawn up in the first
Creed/ century — a creed still retained in many Pro
testant bodies — " I believe in the holy Catholic
Church ". The authors of that creed felt justi
fied in calling her Catholic or universal in her
very infancy, when as yet she had scarcely spread
beyond the walls of one Eastern city : because
as a new ship when fully equipped claims the
title " Atlantic Liner," though the foam is only for
the first time wetting her prow, so the Church
was so fitted for world-wide dominion, so de
signed for universal conquest, so furnished with
all the requisite vital energies, that in the very
first years of her birth they justly proclaimed
her Catholic.
Unlike the synagogue, they saw she was not
built exclusively for a special people. Was not
the echo of the Master's words still ringing in
their ears ? — " Go forth and teach all nations ".
Unlike human empires she was not to be the
sport of time. Did He not also say she was to
last till " the consummation of the world ? "
The First She was now launched on her world- wide
Century.
Catholicity of the True Church
mission and how quickly she justified her bap
tismal title " Catholic ! "
The panting ardour, the heroic zeal of her
Apostles sweeping like whirlwinds of fire through
the four corners of the earth, the rich outpour
ing of the Divine Spirit over the hearts of men
soon gave her universality in numbers and place.
Thirty years after Christ's death St. Paul could
say to the Romans, " I give thanks to my God
. . . because your faith is spoken of in the en
tire world ".* Spoken of by those who were
united with them in faith and sympathy.
Towards the close of that same century, St.
Polycarp, who was ordained by St. John, signs him
self — " Polycarp, the Catholic Bishop of Smyrna ".
We now pass into the second century and The
listen to St. Irenaeus testifying that the religion
„ , j £ Century.
so marvellously propagated was no vague or
changing form of Christianity, but a definite, a
harmonious whole which even then had found a
home in every land. "This faith and doctrine
and tradition preached throughout the globe is as
uniform as if the Church consisted of one family.
. . . The Churches founded in Germany, in the
Celtic nations, in the East, in Libya and in the
centres of civilization do not differ from each
other ; but as the sun gives the same light
* Rom, i, 8.
65 5
The Straight Path
throughout the world, so does the light of faith
shine everywhere the same."
The nations enumerated here cover a consider
able portion of the then known world, yet he
speaks of it as a well-known fact that almost
within a hundred years after Christ's death
flourishing Churches were to be found in them
all. The same father tells us : " Wherever
Jesus Christ is there is the Catholic Church."
The Third \ye come now to the third century and hear
Tertullian in his well-known address to the
Roman Emperor — " We, Christians, are of yester
day, yet we fill all places belonging to you, the
camp, the senate, the forum. Your temples
alone we leave empty. If we were to withdraw
ourselves to some distant land, the loss of so
many citizens would weaken your power. You
would seek in vain for men to command. You
would shudder over the desolation of a world
made empty."
Thus as early as the third century, the extent
of the Church was limited only by the frontiers
of the Roman Empire. But far beyond even
these limits she was destined to spread.
While the reeking sword of persecution was
still held above her head, she was raising temples
on the banks of the Rhine and Danube, enlisting
the philosophy of the East in her service, and
66
Catholicity of the True Church
counting her children in tens of thousands
amongst all classes, from the general who led
Rome's legions to the slave who worked in the
mine.
When the empire was falling to pieces, under
the foundations of her fairest palaces, under roads
that rocked with the tramp of Rome's resistless
legions, a new republic was gathering strength in
the Catacombs — -a republic destined one day to
come forth and plant the triumphant banner of
the Cross in lands never shadowed by the eagle
of Augustus.
We arrive now at an epoch when a great danger Bar-
threatened not only to limit her Catholicity, but barians-
her very existence seemed at stake. Hordes of
barbarians were looking through hungry eyes on
the bloated carcass of the tottering empire.
They dashed across the frontiers in three succes
sive waves and it seemed as if ten centuries of
civilization were about to be submerged, but so
far from impairing the Catholicity of the Church
they were the very instruments used by God to
widen and extend her empire on every side, and
to make her name known amongst millions that
till then sat in the shadows of death.
Each receding barbarian wave sucked back
with it thousands of Christian captives destined
to light the torch of faith among, and become
67 5*
The Straight Path
apostles to the rude peoples amongst whom
their lives were now cast. They bound with the
golden cords of love the men who fettered them
with iron, and of these savage hordes they formed
obedient Christian nations.
Thus the men who scornfully disdained to
bow beneath the imperial yoke meekly sub
mitted to the yoke of Christ. The hands that
plucked from its highest flight of pride the
Roman eagle, and hurled her proudest standards
to the dust, in meek humility clasped the Cruci
fix or struck the breast of sorrow. And back with
the porphyry and gold of Caesar's palace to their
Scythian homes or Germanic forests they carried
the seeds of a faith which was to humanize the tur
bulent passions that swayed and disfigured them,
and which was to give a new civilization to Europe.
The Fifth We have now arrived at the period of the
Century, fifth century, and let us listen to the great
Doctor of the Western Church speaking on the
title Catholic. " It is our duty to hold the
Christian religion and the communion of that
Church which is called Catholic and it is so called
not by us but by all its adversaries ; for whether
they be so disposed or not, in conversing with
others they must use the word ' Catholic ' or
they will not be understood. . . . Among the
many titles that hold me in the bosom of the
68
Catholicity of the True Church
Church, is her glorious name Catholic. Though
all heretics wish to acquire that name, should a
stranger ask, Where do the Catholics assemble ?
the heretics will not dare to point to any of their
places of meeting." *
This test of St. Augustine is admirable and
striking : " Should a stranger ask, Where do
the Catholics assemble ? the heretics will not
dare to point to any of their own places of meet
ing " . The argument is as strong and the ex
periment as simple to- day as in the fifth century.
Put it to the test. Go into London,
Manchester or Glasgow. You are surrounded
by Protestant churches, many of singular beauty
and imposing dimensions, yet ask the first passer
by Where is the Catholic Church ? He will
never think of directing you to his own Pro
testant building, he instinctively points to the
Church in communion with the Roman See,
though it be only a wooden structure in a back
lane. Here you have .those whose interest it
should be to deny or if possible hide it away,
bearing unconscious but eloquent testimony to
her glorious character — Catholic.
We now find ourselves in the Middle Ages, Middle
and surely there is no necessity to prove her Ases-
Catholicity during a period when every throne
* De Vere, " Rel."
69
The Straight Path
in Christendom supported her laws, when ten
thousand crusaders' swords leaped from their
scabbards at the sound of her voice. When
none were to be found outside her pale save the
swarthy followers of Mohammed, and the nomad
tribes of the East.
The Re- This brings us to the epoch of the Refor ma-
formation. tjorL jn tke sixteenth century it was thought
that not only would her Catholicity be impaired
but her very existence imperilled.
A rebel monk sounded the tocsin of revolt on
the banks of the Rhine and whole nations fell
away from the faith. A partial eclipse took
place, but still the sun remained fixed in the
heavens, its full brightness being only for a mo
ment obscured. Through the preaching of St.
Francis Xavier and his Brothers in India and
Japan tens of thousands were swept into her fold ;
while by the discovery of America her conquests
in the new world more than compensated for her
losses in the old. For the one great fact that
stands out in the Church's history is that, when
ever old nations broke from her communion,
new peoples rose up to spring to her bosom lest
her title Catholic might be dimmed or impaired.
Pondering on her marvellous vitality, Lord
Macaulay rises to a height of eloquence never sur
passed even by himself. He says : " There is not
70
Catholicity of the True Church
and never was on this earth a work of policy so
well deserving of examination as the Roman
Catholic Church.
" No other institution is left standing which
carries the mind back to the time when the
smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and
when camelopards and tigers bounded through
the Flavian amphitheatre. She saw the com
mencement of all the governments and ecclesias
tical institutions that now exist in the world, and
we feel no assurance that she is not destined to
see the end of them all.
" She was great and respected before the Saxon
set his foot in Britain, before the Frank had
crossed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still
flourished at Antioch and when idols were still
worshipped at the temples of Mecca ; and she
may still exist in undiminished splendour when
some traveller from New Zealand in the midst of
a vast solitude takes his stand on a broken arch of
London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's."
The Protestant historian just quoted says :
" The Catholic Church is still sending forth
missionaries as zealous as those that landed in
England with Augustine ; confronting hostile
kings with the same spirit with which she con
fronted Attila. The number of her children is
greater than in any preceding age."
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Here is a question to be tested by figures.
Catho- The official statistics give the number of Ca-
Hcity in tholics as two hundred and sixty-four millions.
Numbers. TT . . , . c
Vast as these numbers are, the variety or
countries over which they spread, the extent of
the earth's space covered by them is more strik
ing still. In Europe she counts one hundred
and thirty millions, Germany alone supplies
sixteen millions. On the American Continent
thirty millions. In Russia eleven millions. In
Africa almost three millions, and in the Islands
of the Pacific one millions.*
Let your eye sweep along those countries
which stretch from the snows of Siberia to the
Islands washed by the South Pacific, and surely
you see a Catholicity of empire that no other in
stitution of the world can hope to rival.
The Vati- In our own day, what a striking illustration of
her Catholicity as well as her unity did not
the Vatican Council of 1870 afford. It was a
unique assemblage !
Bishops who came from lands where the solitary
palm waves above the tomb of dead civilizations
clasped hands with the sons of that vigorous
young republic whose name was scarcely known
in Europe when the Fathers of Trent assembled.
* These figures are taken from "Jack's Reference Book," 1911,
and " Chambers's Encyclopaedia ".
72
Catholicity of the True Church
Men who travelled from the land where the
pyramids look down through five thousand years
knelt beside those whose infancy was lulled to
sleep by the hoarse music of Niagara.
Here you beheld every shade of human colour,
men of divers tongues and divers origin, sub
jects of every form of government, of the ab
solute monarchy and the free republic. Might
they not well exclaim : " Thou hast redeemed
us, O Lord, to God, in Thy Blood, out of
every tribe, and tongue and people and na
tion ".* Here we stand as living proofs before
the world of the just claims of our Church to the
title Catholic.
Yes, the shadow of her sceptre is flung over Catholic
, j in Place.
every land.
The sound of her Mass bell answers to the
first flash of the rising sun that shoots above the
ridge of eastern hills. And since it is evening
in one country when it is noon in another and
dawn in a third, the sunrise and the Mass bell
never part company along that bright belt of
light that girdles the globe. The Mass and the
sunshine are everywhere, they march over the
world together. From every point of the path
that he cuts through the heavens the sun lets fall
his beam on the Church's altars, it gleams on her
* " Apoc.," v. 9.
73
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vestments, it glows ruddy on her chalice, and
drapes with its own rich colours the cloud of in
cense that rises from her sanctuary, thus fulfilling
the prophecy of Malachy : " From the rising of
sun even to the going down ... in every place
there is sacrifice, and there is offered to My
name a clean oblation."
Roman J may be told that there is another body in
this country outside ourselves which calls itself
Catholic, Yes, calls itself ^ but no one else calls it
Catholic, and therein lies all the difference. This
is nothing new, it is history repeating itself.
The Fathers have left it on record how up
through the centuries each heretical body — some
of mushroom growth and tiny dimensions — in
variably attempted to usurp and appropriate to
itself the glorious title Catholic. But when a
fraction of a fragment of a sect seriously pro
ceeds to style itself the great, universal Catholic
Church, and patronizingly calls us " Roman
Catholics " as if we were some small inferior
body, it is difficult to forbear a smile.
We should not, however, lose temper, for
when a small boy, a very small boy, steals the
clothes of a giant and attempts to put them on
himself, we willingly forgive his impertinence for
the laughter he affords us.
* Mai. i. ii.
74
Catholicity of the True Church
in.
NO OTHER CHURCH IS CATHOLIC.
ONE question alone remains to be answered — Is Argument
any other Church Catholic ? _
Reason itself shows that by the very nature of
Protestantism universality is out of the question.
Private judgment is fatal to universal conquest.
In whose name and by whose authority could
an army conquer when every soldier is his own
general, free to take his own course as the whim
seizes him ? How could a Church bring whole
empires beneath her sway when within herself
she carries the elements of dissolution, and may
at any moment split into a thousand different
sects? The driving power, the iron strength,
the endurance that belongs to a cohesive, well-
knit organization like the Catholic Church is
here absent.
Look at their very names and see, they un
consciously proclaim that they could not be
Catholic in time or place. One takes its name
from a man : the Lutherans from Luther, the
Wesleyans from Wesley, telling that it was
founded, not by Christ, but by some man who
lived long centuries after Him. Another takes
its name from the country that gave it birth,—
the Anglicans from England, the Greeks from
75
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Greece, showing that its mission is not to the
universal human family but confined within
geographical limits to one particular people.
A religion specially built to suit the peculiar
tastes and character of one nation is, by that
fact, unfitted for universal acceptance amongst
others, differently constituted.
But the Anglican Church was formed for
England, the Lutheran for Germany, and the
Greek for Russia. Their roots will live in those
soils only. Transplant them and they wither.
Does not every fibre of their composition
therefore proclaim them not Catholic but local
and national.
" The Reformed Churches," says Lord Macau-
lay, " were merely national Churches. The
Church of England existed for England alone.
It was an institution as purely local as the Court
of Common Pleas. The Church of Scotland
likewise existed for Scotland alone, while the
operation of the Catholic Church took in the
whole world."
Not ca- Let us now come to the test of figures,
tholic in The largest Christian body outside the Catho-
Numbers. Hc Church {s the Qreek Church of Russia. It
counts at the very most eighty millions. The
largest Protestant Church is the Lutheran. While
it would be difficult to show that all the Protes-
76
Catholicity of the True Church
tant Churches together number one hundred and
twenty millions. Now let us by force of imagina
tion try to look on those thousand different Pro
testant sects as one body. Let us even go farther
and imagine a corporate union between them and
the Greek schismatical Church. Yet the united
numbers of all still fall sixty-four millions short
of that one, compact organism called the Catholic
Church.
To add one word to the argument these figures
furnished would only weaken its strength and
eloquence.
I may be reminded that besides the Catholic objection
Church non-Catholic bodies are to be found every- Answered,
where. Yes, with this great difference, that
while you have heresy or schism in most coun
tries, you have not the same brand in any two.
The Greek Church disdains all relationship with
any Protestant body. The German Lutherans
repudiate the Protestants of England. While
the Anglican anathematizes the Calvinists of
Geneva. On the other hand, the Catholic Church
is to be found in all lands, and is the same in
every land.
Like the branches of the true vine, she spreads
far and wide, but each branch springs from the
same trunk, and is fed by the sap of a common
faith.
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In striking contrast then to those various
Christian bodies that stand isolated and apart,
each confined to the region that saw its birth, is
the splendid uniformity which links together the
Church's children of every clime. The Polish
Catholic discovers no difference in his Irish
brother, and the Catholic of Algiers claims com
plete identity with the citizen of Quebec.
Con- Here we pause to take a parting glance.
Some short time ago* at the coronation of the
Sovereigns who rule over these Islands, London
witnessed a pageant of rare magnificence. The
vast procession that swept through her streets
embraced within its ranks subjects from the most
distant portions of the Empire. The bronzed
Australian and the turbaned Bengalese, the
Canadian who hailed from Our Lady of the
Snows, and the sons of sunny Africa marched side
by side. It was a gorgeous spectacle. No wonder
if the Englishman's heart thrilled with pride at
the thought of the vast Empire over which his
flag waved, and the variety of races that fore
gathered under its shadow. Yet that assemblage
of different races, those representatives of vast
dominions multiplied a hundred times over can
be seen, not once in a life-time, but every day of
* On 22 June, 1911. Coronation of King George V and Queen
Mary.
78
Catholicity of the True Church
the year in the City of Rome. From every
point of the compass pilgrims come pouring in
to do homage to the lonely King at the Vatican.
He looks out over an empire so vast that the
proudest kingdom of earth dwindles and grows
small by its side. The oldest royal house is a
creation of yesterday compared with the long
line of sovereigns of which he is heir. He wields
a sceptre whose great antiquity goes down
through two thousand years.
This it is that makes such a powerful impres
sion on the Protestant visitor to Rome. He
finds his little insular Church become paltry and
insignificant when he stands in the living bright
ness of the universal queen. The old city by
the Tiber is daily thronged with representatives
of the most distant climes. Her sons come from
afar. The strength of the Gentiles have gathered
to her bosom and Kings are walking in the bright
ness of her rising. Her streets echo the lan
guages of the world, thus perpetuating the
pentecostal diversity of tongues and affording to
mankind a living and perpetual proof that to the
glorious title " Catholic " no rival dares dispute
the undoubted claim of the heir of all the ages,
the teacher of all the nations, the grand old
Mother of Christendom.
79
CHAPTER IV.
THE APOSTOLICITY OF THE TRUE
CHURCH.
I.
THE TRUE CHURCH SHOULD BE APOSTOLIC.
" All power is given to Me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations : baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things what
soever I have commanded you : and behold I am with
you all days, even to the consummation of the world." *
THE white clouds of Mount Olivet were soon
to envelop the form of Christ : His sorrowing
Apostles about to catch the last glimpse of His
ascending figure. Before leaving them, however,
He constituted them into a separate body of
men — into His Church teaching — to continue
His own work for the salvation of mankind.
Their office, its nature, and duration are ex
plained in the text placed at the beginning of
this chapter.
It follows then that, in casting a glance over
* Matt. xxvm. 18-20.
80
Apostolicity of the True Church
the various Christian bodies to-day, no Church
has a claim on our allegiance that cannot produce
her diploma bearing the triple seal of Aposto
licity.
1. She must be founded by the Apostles or
their successors.
2. She must be able to trace back her pastors'
descent, in an unbroken chain, to the Apostles.
3. She must show her doctrine to be identi
cal with that of the Apostles.
If she fail in any of these three she cannot be
recognized as the true Church.
We know from Sacred Scripture that Christ Apostolic
singled out twelve men from the multitude of in Ong|n-
His disciples.
" He called unto Him His disciples, and He
chose twelve of them whom He also named
Apostles." These He formed into a corporate
body, formally appointed to a definite office.
He empowered them with jurisdiction to offer
sacrifice, to loose and -bind, to teach and govern
in His name and with His authority. They
and they alone were the exclusive depositaries
of His commission. On them alone He
breathed His power, them alone He sent to
teach all nations, promising the indwelling of
His Holy Spirit to guide, inspire and protect
*Luke vi. 13.
81 6
The Straight Path
them and their successors till the end of time.
On those twelve, as on twelve pillars, He
founded His Church.
Now, outside that selected body no man in
this world can claim to possess one scrap of
Apostolic jurisdiction. Hence it follows that
any Church founded since their days, on the
authority of man, is merely a human institution.
So much for Apostolicity of origin.
Pastors. Before any man then can establish his claim
to be an apostolic pastor two things are neces
sary. First) He must be able to trace his spirit
ual lineage back, in unbroken succession, to the
Apostles. As in the Old Law no man dared to
put his foot inside the sanctuary who could not
prove his descent, link by link in the chain of
generations, back to Aaron, the fountain-head
of the Synagogue's priesthood ; so, the priest of
the New Law must be able to trace his spiritual
pedigree by ordination, jurisdiction, etc., back
through the Apostles to Christ, the Source from
which his powers are derived. Secondly, He
must have received jurisdiction in all its fullness,
with that completeness of power constituted by
Christ as essential to the Christian priesthood,
nor merely valid ordination, power to offer the
Holy Sacrifice, but authority to preach and
govern. If even one of these is absent he holds
82
Apostolicity of the True Church
no commission. Our Lord did not endow His
Apostles in piecemeal. "All power is given to
Me. . . . Going therefore, teach ye all nations."
Nor did He order them to transmit it in frag
ments to His Church. The endowment of His
pastors is an undivided whole.
Now, since direct descent from the Apostles,
and a completeness of ministry are essential to
the Apostolicity of pastors, it follows that, an
heretical ministry deriving its authority from a
man, a King, or a Privy Council that may be
composed of Free-thinkers and Jews, or a
schismatic priesthood that receive their juris
diction from a Russian Czar, are outside the
family of the Apostles* successors.
When a Greek Emperor in the ninth century
and an English King in the sixteenth usurped
spiritual authority — when Caesar thrust himself
into the Chair of Peter — and attempted to dis
pense a jurisdiction exclusively confined to the
charge of the chosen twelve, then the succession
was broken, the Apostolic line became extinct.
To no Czar or King did Christ ever say " As
the Father sent Me, I send you." An earthly
sovereign may indeed loose the chains from a
prisoner's body, but from whom did he get
authority to strike the fetters off sin-bound
souls ?
83 6*
The Straight Path
No Cabinet or Privy Council did Christ
charge to " teach all nations " . Then since no
thing can rise higher than its source it is evident
that no shred of Apostolic power or authority
resides in a Ministry whose only claim is that it
received all jurisdiction from a man who never
possessed it.
Apostolic Every pastor requires a mission. When
m Pastors. ]y[oses went to Pharaoh he did not demand com
pliance with his message till he had produced the
credential of his mission ; the seal that he was
a legate duly authorized by God. In the New
Testament we see the minutest exactitude in de
manding genuine charters of authority before
undertaking the labours and jurisdiction of a
Divine teacher. Christ did not exempt even Him
self. In St. John's Gospel He appeals to His
miracles as proofs of His Divinity, but when He
comes to delegate His powers to the chosen
twelve He is not satisfied with this, for He re
minds them that this same mission and jurisdic
tion He now transmits to them, He Himself
received from the Eternal Father. " As the
Father hath sent Me, I send you."
St. Paul St. Paul lays the necessity of a duly authorized
insists on mission as the foundation of his argument to the
Romans : " How shall they believe him of whom
they have not heard ? And how shall they hear
84
Apostolicity of the True Church
without a preacher ? And how can they preach
unless they be sent ? " *
This reasoning of the Apostle commends itself
to the judgment of every thinking man. The
care you take in scrutinizing the credentials
of any man is in direct proportion to two
things :—
(a) The importance of the office he under
takes, and
(£) The obligation imposed on you to obey
him.
Now, that the obligation of obeying the Church
of Christ is of the gravest character is beyond
all doubt, " He who hears you, hears Me ". " If
he will not obey the Church, let him be to thce
as a heathen and a publican."
Regarding the importance of the office, there
can be no question. In the affairs of your body
you refuse to accept the guidance of every man
who places a brass plate on his door, and styles
himself a doctor ; you must have a genuine as
surance that he is truly qualified. But are
spiritual quacks to pass unchallenged ? For far
weightier reasons, should you not demand from
the man who presumes to take charge of the in
terests of your immortal soul, an authorized
commission from that select body set aside by
* Rom. x. 14.
85
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Christ to teach all nations in His name, confer
His Sacraments, and govern by His authority.
AH Am- When an ambassador from London arrives at
bassadors par;s or Berlin, what is his first duty ? — Is it not
Show to produce his papers bearing the genuine seal
Their Cre- of the Sovereign. He is not permitted to speak
lentiais. Qr act officiaiiy ^\\\ these authoritative documents
are scrutinized and examined.
I think it is now clear that Apostolicity of
Pastors is a first essential in the true Church.
" For neither doth any man take the honour to
himself, but he who is called by God as Aaron
was." *
Apos- The true Church should show a complete
tolic in identity of doctrine with that of the Apostles ;
adding not a syllable, abstracting not an iota ;
so that the true Church of to-day should be the
echo of the Apostles' voice. If we discover a
genuine departure from the Apostles' doctrine,
St. Paul tells us how to deal with such a Church :
" Though an angel from heaven preach a gospel
to you beside that which we have preached to
you, let him be anathema ". t
Words so strong leave no doubt about the
necessity for complete harmony between the
teaching of the Apostles, and the teaching of
the true Church of Christ.
* Heb. v. 4. f Gal. i. 8.
86
Apostolicity of the True Church
I think it has now become abundantly evident
that the true Church should bear the triple seal
of Apostolicity :—
1. She should be founded by Christ or by
His Apostles.
2. Her pastors should derive their authority
in direct succession from the Apostles.
3. Her doctrine should be identical with that
taught by the Apostles.
I hope to convince the reader that the body
called the Catholic Church is Apostolic in origin,
in pastors and in teaching.
II.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC.
The task of proving her Apostolicity of origin, I ami 2.
and the Apostolic succession of her pastors is Apostolic
easy, for no man has been found foolish enough
to deny either.
The fact which made the great impression on
Newman and so largely contributed towards his
conversion was that, unlike the sectaries, the
Catholic Church was no branch wrenched from
a parent trunk, she was the parent trunk itself.
Her long line of Councils, from the first at
Jerusalem presided over by Peter, to the last at
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The Straight Path
Rome presided over by Pius, constitute the very
landmarks of history.
Her disputes with hostile Kings, her line of
supreme Pontiffs, her trials and her triumphs
attest her presence over every page of history
during the past two thousand years. The un
interrupted succession of her pastors stretching
across the breadth of those ages is so clear and
evident that to deny it would be to close the
eyes to all historic evidence.
" The proudest royal houses of Europe are
but of yesterday compared with the line of su
preme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an
unbroken series from the Pope who crowned
Napoleon in the nineteenth century, to the Pope
who crowned Pepin in the eighth, and far
beyond the time of Pepin does the august
dynasty extend till it is lost in the twilight of
fable." *
3. Apos- ^ye now come to the Apostolicity of Doc-
tolic in . , i i /• , . .
Doctrine, trine, and at the threshold of the inquiry we
are met by the question : By what test do you
prove the doctrine of the Church to-day to be
Apostolic or not ?
First We have a simple, conclusive and effective one.
Here is the canon of doctrinal criticism recog
nized in every age. — Whatever is in harmony
*Macaulay, " Ranke's History".
88
Apostolicity of the True Church
with the uninterrupted chain of Apostolic teach
ing is true, whatever contradicts it is false.
Now, we have four monuments that afford
amplest evidence as to what is the unbroken
chain of Apostolic tradition.
(a) The professions of faith or " creeds " Creeds.
drawn up at various epochs. The Apostles'
Creed is a witness to the faith of the first cen
tury, the Athanasian Creed testifies to the faith
of the fourth, and so on.
(£) We have also the " liturgies " which are Liturgies,
the external expressions of the faith of various
periods. For instance, if I find a chalice, an
altar stone, a missal, belonging to the sixth
century, I have proof conclusive of that genera
tion's belief in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
(f) The writings of the Fathers, especially The
those universally acknowledged as Doctors of the Fathers-
Church, bear witness to the faith of their age
when they champion doctrines as truth and as
sail others as error. For instance, if I find a
Father of the Church in the sixth century
defending the number of sacraments as seven,
does he not bear witness that Christendom in
that day believed in seven sacraments ?
(<f) Finally, as in our own Law Courts we ap- Councils,
peal to statutes and decisions of judges as facts
that speak for our case ; so we have the Councils
The Straight Path
of the Church pronouncing what is error, and
declaring what is truth.
Now, antiquity speaking through these four
tongues is decisive.
Second The second canon is supplied by St. Pacian of
Canon. tne fourth century, and it applies with even
stronger force to our own times than his. Here
is his golden rule to distinguish truth from error :
" Error is always new and various in form, while
truth is unchangeable and equally held by all
persons, at all times, and in all places ". Let the
reader be good enough to keep these two canons
well before his mind : Conformity with antiquity
and The unchangeable nature of truth : it is by
these we shall test the Apostolicity of the Catho
lic and non-Catholic Churches.
i. Con- Let us apply the first — conformity with anti-
formity quity. If there is anything a Catholic is particu-
tiquity"" larty proud of, it is that he can challenge the
world to produce, from any period of the past,
an authentic condemnation on any article of the
faith he professes.
Read aloud to him every creed from the
Apostles' Creed up, and the declarations of every
Council, from the Council of Jerusalem to that
of the Vatican ; and to every article of faith so
read out he can firmly answer Credo — I believe.
So far from fearing inquiry, the Church wel-
90
Apostolicity of the True Church
comes it, for she knows that every fresh field of
discovery supplies fresh arguments to her claim,
and swells the chorus of testimony to the Apos
tolicity of her teaching.
Let the antiquarian ransack the caverns of the
Catacombs, overhaul libraries and museums, drag
forth tablets, rituals and vestments, monuments
of the faith of any epoch passed and she proudly
points to the fact that every syllable of that teach
ing can be heard in her sanctuaries to-day. The
rich treasures of her Apostolic teaching never
come out more clearly than when contrasted
with the genuine expressions of the faith of the
past, are never more evident than when under the
white search-light of honest criticism.
Our own country happily supplies us with a Irish
striking illustration of this truth. Valleys
We believe in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass ;
we are surrounded by persons who do not. Let
the relative claims of both be put to a simple test.
Our Irish valleys are- dotted over with ruined
churches of every century almost from the days
of St. Patrick to our own. Go to them and see
how those solemn sentinels raise their hoary heads
testifying to the Apostolicity of our faith.
You find in the church of the sixth or the
tenth century alike, an altar, an ambr<e for the
sacred vessels, and sedllia for the ministers at
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High Mass. Come outside to the tombstones
lying around, strip them of their moss, and you
reveal the outlines of a chalice, a host, or a mon
strance. Wherever you turn your eyes, those
venerable watchmen keep solemn vigil by the
Apostolic faith of antiquity, and bear its witness
upon their mossy breasts. Could your voice
penetrate the green sod, and clothe once more
with flesh and blood the bones of your own an
cestor who went to sleep in the ninth century,
and tell him we are now informed that belief in
the Real Presence and the Holy Mass is not
Apostolic doctrine. This man, rising up from an
age a thousand years nearer to the Apostles than
ours — an age when the aroma of Apostolic tradi
tion still lingered in the air — will tell you that a
priest without a sacrifice, a temple without an
altar, a sanctuary without anything sacred seem
to be contradiction in terms, and such things
were never heard of in his time. When he was
alive all Christendom believed in the Mass and
never questioned it. He points to the figure of
the chalice on his tomb bearing mute but eloquent
testimony to his words. Such was the teaching,
he says, our Bishops received from Patrick, and
Patrick from Celestine, and Celestine from Peter,
and Peter from Christ.
Second Let us now apply the second canon — the
Canon.
92
Apostolicity of the True Church
unchangeable nature of truth. On this we need
waste few words, because our adversaries prove
our case by actually making our conformity
with this canon a reproach. They say, the Ca
tholic Church never changes, her motto is
Semper eadem, or, as they put it — " she is non-
progressive " . We admit it, we do more, we
glory in it. Let us go to the root of the ques
tion and not be deceived by the jugglery of words.
What is the meaning of progress ? — Is it not
the going from an imperfect towards a perfect
state? Surely no one will quarrel with that
definition. Yet it follows from such definition
that a Church already perfect cannot make
progress.1 She is already in possession of a state
towards which progress tends, and to move
from that position would not be perfection but
a step towards imperfection.
Upon a theological as upon a . mathematical
truth, time can make no change, two and two
made four in the first century, and the roll of
ten thousand years over that simple truth can
not make it five. The early Christians believed
in one God. Two thousand years have not
made God more than one. The sun has not
changed his path in the heavens for the past six
1 To safeguard the reader against misconception let me say that
the phrase "the Church can make no progress" is not meant to
exclude that kind of progress called doctrinal development, con
cerning which the constitution of the Vatican Council quotes
Vincent of Lerins to show that there is truly a progress (profectus)
although "tn eodem sensu et dogntate". — AUTHOR.
93
The Straight Path
thousand years. Why? — Because the finger
that traced it in the beginning was Divine, and
being perfect from the beginning it cannot
change. The word " progress " has no meaning
when applied to perfect things.
Christ promised that the Spirit of Truth should
abide with His Church for ever. Can she then
declare as true in one generation what she brands
as false in another ? Can God be deceived or
can time add to His knowledge ? Can man im
prove on His work ? Yes, when he will add
fire to the sun, give a richer perfume to the lily
or paint the heavens with a deeper blue.
So that, when a person boasts of his Church
being progressive he declares that the truths she
held yesterday she abandons to-day, and the
truths she holds to-day she may throw overboard
to-morrow. He declares her a man-made Church,
a creature of time, a human institution bearing
on her forehead the hall-mark of clay.
The There are ways in which the Church is very
Pr^grfs.18 Progressive indeed.
sive. She marched not only abreast but far ahead
of her times when she raised humanity out of
the mire of pagan corruption into the pure light
and freedom of Christian civilization.
But when a portion of mankind revolts from
her guidance, breaks down the barriers of moral
restraint, reopens the sluice-gates of vice,
94
Apostolicity of the True Church
quenches star after star in the heaven of the soul,
and recedes to the paganism from which she
rescued it, calling that process " progress," with
such progress she declines to go. She came
from above and her motto must ever be Ex
celsior.
In another sense also she is progressive. Her Another
mission is Divine but worked out through human Kind of
instruments. She used the roads of pagan Rome
to expedite the message of her missionaries, and
the common language of the Empire to announce
it. So to-day, she looks with kindly eye on all
inventions and discoveries. Of them she will
in the future absorb and utilize all that is good
and serviceable. The infidel astronomer now
wrapt in his observatory, marking with his
telescope the march of the midnight stars ; or the
scientist now wrestling with the terrors of the
polar seas, or deciphering the mystic language
of the rocks, little dreams that he is strengthen
ing her arm to grapple with the future forces of
infidelity ; forging cutting steel for the armoury
of her defensive weapons.
In this sense she is indeed progressive. But
ask her to vary her articles of faith — change her
pillars of belief. No, never an iota.
We now come to the final question. Is any
other Church Apostolic ?
95
The Straight Path
in
NO OTHER CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC.
Not Apos- " No other form of Christianity," says New-
tolic in
Origin.
man, " but the present Catholic communion has
a pretence to resemble, even in the faintest
shadow, the Christianity of antiquity." *
Greek Is the Greek Church Apostolic in origin? — It
was founded just eight hundred years too late.
The Apostles had finished their work and gone
to their reward, and it would take a loud voice
to penetrate those eight centuries and give the
authors of the Greek schism their mission. It
is true the ordination of a Greek minister is
valid, but orders, and the power of using them
are very different things. Should a London
judge find himself in Dublin, he would remain a
judge but could not exercise the functions of
that office. If an ambassador, having received
his commission, be guilty of rebellion, will the
State recognize his powers ? Will the King
countersign his signature ?
To have Apostolicity of pastors more is re
quired than mere material succession. When a
schismatic Bishop occupies the see of a true suc
cessor of the Apostles, and robes himself in his
vestments, he is indeed a material unit in the
* " Difficulties of Anglicans," p. 393.
96
Apostolicity of the True Church
line of succession, but all vital and organic con
nexion has ceased. And, in this, all the differ
ence lies.
By schism, the Greeks are completely cut off
from Peter, the head source of authority and
jurisdiction, and the stream cut from its fountain
flows no longer. Your arm while in connexion
with your body is animated by the soul, the
spirit flows through it ; sever the arm from the
body, Will the soul flow out after it ? — No, the
spirit remains behind and the limb dies. Cut a
telegraph wire and the message from the electric
centre travels to the gap but will not pass across it.
A Greek priest might pronounce the words of
absolution, but the words would die on the air.
The stream of power that accompanies these
words from the lips of a Catholic priest would
here be absent. He belongs to a Church that
is a limb indeed but an amputated one ; a branch
indeed but a torn one. He is the ambassador
in rebellion, his seal is worthless, his commission
cancelled.
The Apostles are dead nineteen hundred years, is the
and it is only three centuries since the world first Reformed
--,« -
heard of the Reformers. The Claim of any Apostoiic
branch of those Churches to Apostolic origin is
met by a most serious, and, as it appears, an in
superable objection. It is this : On their own
97 7
The Straight Path
admission, they differed from all Christendom be
tween the twelfth and sixteenth centuries ; they
admit a gap of four hundred years. How is
that break bridged over ? Where is the chain
of continuity between them and the Apostolic
Church ? How can they claim relationship with
a Church from which they are separated by a
chasm of four centuries ? I may be told that all
Christendom had defected and become corrupt ;
and secondly, that the new leaders were called to
establish a pure and perfect Church. Let us ex
amine these two statements separately.
Had We take the Bible and read the promise of
r." Christ to His Church : " Behold I am with you
ruptcd? all days even to the consummation of the world ".
Now upon the words of man I am asked to
believe that the God of all Truth broke that
promise ; He was not with her all days. I
am asked to believe more — That under terrible
penalties He commanded humanity to hear and
obey that Church, and yet for four hundred
years had permitted her lips to hold a message of
falsehood and corruption. Finally, that the
spouse for whom He delivered Himself up that
she might be without spot or wrinkle — that
spouse He had abandoned and permitted to be
eaten into with the leprosy of corruption. To
believe all that in the light of the flat contradic-
98
Apostolicity of the True Church
tion that comes from the very Book to which
the Reformers so confidently appeal, is just too
much for sane reason.
That the Reformers had a commission to es- Wa§ the
tablish a perfect Church is met by a difficulty Refo"na;
r. * tionEstab-
equally serious. lishedby
Men coming with such an extraordinary God.
message should produce their letters of credit
from him who sent them — their commission
either from those who immediately preceded
them, or directly from God.
With those who immediately preceded them
they declared they had nothing in common.
Then they should have their commission from
God.
Now God never abolished an existing order
of things to establish another without furnishing
His agents with the authority of miracles.
When Moses went to Pharaoh miracles consti
tuted his credentials. Christ Himself appeals
to them as His warrant for abolishing the Old
and establishing the New Law. When He sent
His Apostles out into the world miracles formed
their passports : their very shadows, handker
chiefs dipped in their blood worked wonders.
And curiously enough Luther gives this as the
rule for testing the Anabaptists of Muncer.
" If they say they are from God, let them prove
99 7*
The Straight Path
it by miracles, if not, reject them." Now have
the Reformers ever produced this credential for
the authority of their mission ? — They have
never pretended to claim it : more, many of
them scoff at the bare notion of a miracle, at
least since the days of the Apostles and their
immediate successors.
identity We have tested the Reformed Church by
with Early comparison with that portion of Christendom
Church. r i • i .. j«/Tt
from which it differs. Let us now compare it
with that portion with which the Reformers
claim the identity. " Look to the Early
Church," they say, " when it was pure and un-
corrupted and you will find it one with the Re
formation, and telling deadly against the Catholics.
We accept the challenge. Nay, if we had no
other proof of the divinity of the Catholic
Church we might be content to stand or fall by
this appeal. The evidence it affords is unanswer
able. It is fatal. If the Reformed Church be
identical with the Primitive Church, the errors
condemned by the Primitive Church should be
condemned with equal emphasis by Protestant
ism to-day. That is evident. Now what are
the facts ? Between the day of Pentecost and
the year seven hundred there are twenty heresies
condemned by the Primitive Church.
Are those errors repudiated by Protestants
100
Apostolicity of the True Church
to-day ? So far from it, each and every one of
those heresies can be actually found among
articles of Protestant belief.
Are those twenty errors held or tolerated by
the Catholic Church to-day ? — To each and
every one of them she says Anathema. She
reprobates them. She affixes her seal of con
demnation to the sentence pronounced by the
Primitive Church.
Which Church has now proved her blood-
relationship with the Apostolic Church of the
Fathers, and which Church is discovered in the
ranks of her enemies ?
This argument is unanswerable. This argu- Newman<
ment shook Oxford sixty years ago, and forced
its most gifted men to find peace in the bosom
of the Catholic Church. Let the brightest par
ticular star among them all speak. Newman,
making a close study of the Early Church of
the Fathers, was so struck by its identity with
the Catholic Church -of to-day, and the identity
of Protestantism to-day with the heresies that
assailed the Primitive Church, that he laid
down his pen and bowed his head : the argument
was overpowering. He says : "It was difficult
to make out how Eutychians or Monothelites
were heretics, unless Protestants and Anglicans
were heretics also. It was difficult to condemn
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The Straight Path
the Popes of the sixteenth century without con
demning the Popes of the fifth. The principles
and proceedings of the Church now were those
of the Church then ; the principles and proceed
ings of heretics then were those of Protestants now.
" I found it so, almost fearfully, there was an
awful similitude between the records of the past
and the feverish chronicle of the present. The
shadow of the fifth century was on the sixteenth,
it was like a spirit rising from the troubled
waters of the old world with the shape and linea
ments of the new.
" What was the use of continuing the contro
versy or defending my position, if after all I
was but forging arguments for Arius and turn
ing devil's advocate against the much-enduring
Athanasius, and the majestic Leo. Be my soul
with the saints and shall I lift my hand against
them ? Sooner may my right hand forget her
cunning and wither outright, ere I should do
aught but fall at their feet in love and in worship
whose image was continually before my eyes,
and whose musical words were ever in my ears
and on my tongue."
is the Re- The limits of this chapter will not permit us
formed to examine more than two points, but they will
be amply sufficient.
* Difficulties of Anglicans, p. 387.
102
Apostolicity of the True Church
For a thousand years and more the world
never heard of a man bold enough to deny the
evident meaning of these four words : " This is
My Body ". Berengarius arose to scandalize
Christendom by his denial in the eleventh cen
tury, but the cancer of his heresy was cut from
the Church by Pope Leo IX, at the Council
of Vercelli, and the author died in penance.
Christendom rested and at the time of the Re
formation the world in every part held the
Apostolic doctrine on this point as we do
to-day.
The Reformers at the time of Elizabeth
denied, as the vast majority of them the world
over to-day deny, the Real Presence, and every
century from Pentecost to that hour, with the
brief exception alluded to, cried out in pro
test.
The absurdity of their denial became evident
in a short time. When they refused the plain
interpretation of these four words accepted by
the Catholic Church, they were bound of course
to supply their own meaning of them.
What happened ? — Within a few years they
discovered no less than a hundred and twenty
different and contradictory meanings of the four
words : " This is My Body ". All those one
hundred and twenty meanings were mutually
103
The Straight Path
destructive. So that if A was true, B was false,
and so on.
The Catholic theologian might fold his arms
and let the one hundred and twenty, like Aaron's
serpents, devour each other.
"This is My Body," says Christ, "which
shall be delivered for you." The Reformers
must hold that it was His real Body. For if
these words — " This is My Body " are wrenched
from their obvious meaning and made to signify
— " This represents My Body," see the fix in
which they would find themselves. They would
then have no right to assume that the words—
" The Word was God " did not also mean — " The
Word was the representation of God," or again,
" This is My beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased," do not stand for — " This man is a
figure of My beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased ".
The Reformers cannot claim the right to a
forced and arbitrary interpretation, and deny
the same right to others. They cannot have it
both ways.
If then, as they stoutly maintain against the
Socinians, it is blasphemous to say that, " The
Word was only a representation of God," it is
equally blasphemous for themselves to tamper
with the words of the institution of the Blessed
104
Apostolicity of the True Church
Sacrament, and interpret them to mean that, the
Eucharist is only a figure of Christ's Body and
Blood. Here is their dilemma : there is no
escape from it.
They are bound then to hold that, the Body
Christ held in His hands on Holy Thursday
night was identical with the Body that hung on
the Cross on Good Friday. But when they
assert that, it was not a real but a spiritual body
of Christ that was in the host at the Last Supper,
they are forced also to assert that, it was not a
real but a figurative body that hung on the Cross
on Good Friday.
" This is My Blood which shall be shed for
you." When they assure us that, in the chalice
at the Last Supper the Blood was figurative and
not real, they are forced to say also that it was
only figurative blood that flowed on the Cross,
for Christ tells us that the Blood in the chalice
was the Blood to be shed for us.
Here, at one sweep, they do away with the
atonement. A strange position for " Christians "
to find themselves in ! Yet this is strictly
logical. Christ was making His last will and
testament, and He tells us that, He leaves us
His Body. The Reformers assure us that, it
was not His Body but a figure of it He left
us.
105
The Straight Path
But should the reader test their sincerity by
leaving a line in his will, " This is my house
which I leave to you ". If the executor, insist
ing that this was figurative language, were to pre
sent them with a photograph or image of the
house, how very quickly they would insist on the
natural interpretation of words, and look upon
the meaning forced on those words of the will,
by the executor, as a clumsy joke or an attempt
to cheat them.
St. Paul says, " He who eats or drinks un
worthily is guilty of the Body and Blood of
Christ ". How could he be guilty of a real body
if he only dishonoured a figurative one ? What
judge will condemn you for murder because you
happened to stick a knife not through a man but
through his picture ?
If for one moment we admit such jugglery
with words, human speech ceases to have mean
ing, and become chaos.
Divorce. For one thousand five hundred years the
Church withstood divorce, and upheld the indis-
solubility of the marriage tie. The Reformers
first divorced Christ from His Church, and then
man from his wife.
If there was ever an occasion when the glory
of the Church shone with greater lustre than
another, it was in the stand she took, and the
1 06
Apostolicity of the True Church
sacrifices she made rather than tamper with, or
whittle down this Apostolic tradition.
Germany and almost the whole of Northern
Europe were wrenched from her communion :
half Switzerland was gone : France was griev
ously imperilled. Every day brought tidings of
fresh disaster to the Vatican. The tide of revolt
kept rolling onwards, and no man might mark
its limits. The Papacy was hard pressed, and it
seemed as if Catholic Christendom was breaking
up on every side.
In her hour of sore anguish there was one
nation to which the Church might look for help,
one Power capable of staying the onward roll of
destruction — England.
Henry VIII was perhaps the most powerful
monarch that ever sat on an English throne.
His father left him uncounted wealth. Not a
spark of disaffection, the shadow of no claimant
disturbed his repose. Parliament was at his feet,
and the nobles that .might thwart his plans had
perished in the Rose Wars. Feudalism was in its
last gasp, and the powers of modern democracy
had not received birth.
The friendship and assistance of such a king
would be incalculable. Both might be purchased
if the Church recognized his divorce from Cathe
rine. She could not : she dare not ; for by doing
107
The Straight Path
so she would abandon one item of Apostolic doc
trine. This she could not do were she to gain
the whole earth. She was commissioned to teach
all things whatsoever Christ had commanded her,
and amongst them divorce found no place ; but
rather " What God hath joined let no man
separate ".
In the hour of darkness and gloom she dashed
aside the proffered hand when it could only be
purchased by the betrayal of Apostolic teaching.
More, if the mystic veil of the future were
uplifted and if upon her eyes prophetic vision
was poured, and she could see the multipled ca
lamities her refusal entailed, she dare not abandon
that one defenceless woman clinging to her feet,
and claiming her protection.
If she looked and saw that King with his
million subjects, their great Universities, and rich
Abbeys, and stately Cathedrals pass away from her
control ; if she saw that vast nation transformed
from faithful children into deadliest foes — her
answer still should be : — Let them go ; by this
injured woman I must take my stand.
If with blanched cheek and quivering lip her
eyes beheld the streams of English and Irish
blood, and the mangled corpses of their martyrs
rolling down the purple tide : if with agonized
ears, she heard the crash of falling churches, and
1 08
Apostolicity of the True Church
the clank of prison gyves, if listening low, she
heard from the shores of faithful Ireland the
muffled wail of a trampled nation sounding like
a death-bell over the Western waters. Even so,
her answer still should be : — No power on earth
shall wrench from my lips a lie. By this injured
woman I will take my stand.
If, looking down the vista of time, the vision
of our own days rose up before her, and she saw
that once Catholic nation lashing herself into a
very frenzy of delight to welcome and clasp
Garibaldi to her bosom, pouring tens of
thousands into his coffers, and arming his cut
throats with English rifles. If all that ghastly
vision passed before her gaze, she could only
answer : — An Apostolic message was committed
to my charge, corruption must never touch it.
Let the monarchs of earth uphold the doctrine
of divorce with forests of bayonets and rivers of
blood, still by this injured woman I take my
stand, and were I to perish in the breath, I hurl
my fiercest curse upon that doctrine damned as
hell.
109
AT each stage of the inquiry the light grew
brighter on the mind of our anxious friend
whose train of thought was set in motion by
the clamouring chimes of the opposing churches.
As he proceeded from mark to mark of the
FOUR that were to characterize the true Church
of Christ, as he perceived them to be clearly
and evidently possessed by one Church alone,
and as he searched in vain for them among
other Christian bodies, the accumulating evi
dence grew irresistible and the unshaken con
viction seized him that THE STRAIGHT PATH
led clear cut and direct to the door of the
Catholic Church.
There he stands. Torturing doubts have
vanished and luminous certitude now fills the
mind once torn by anxious thought.
One more step.
Unlike the churches he previously knew, the
Catholic Church has a head, and a head claim
ing special prerogatives. In order then that
no shadow of ignorance regarding the head or
body of that divine organism may linger on his
mind, we now invite him to open the second
book of this volume, and study the two great
privileges of Peter's successor — The Infallibility
of the Pope and The Supernatural Life of the
Apostolic See.
no
BOOK THE SECOND.
THE POPE AND HIS PREROGATIVES
CHAPTER I.
WHAT INFALLIBILITY MEANS.
FORTY-FIVE years have rolled by since the Vati
can Council declared the Successor of St. Peter
to be infallible, that is, protected from error
when, speaking as Supreme Pastor, he defines
as a doctrine of faith or morals to be held by
the whole Church.
Before proceeding to prove this article of
Catholic truth let us dispel some false notions
concerning it.
A new definition, so far from being a new New De-
article of faith,1 is but a public declaration of finition
an article of faith as old as Christianity itself. Article o
Magna Charta receives no new addition when- Faith,
ever one of its principles is interpreted by
authority, or applied to a particular case. In
civil law if a controversy arise about a consti-
1 An article of faith is defined by St. Thomas as " A revealed
supernatural truth which is distinct in itself from other such
truths but which unites with them to form the organic whole of
Christian teaching" such as those truths contained in the Apostles'
Creed.
H3 8
The Straight Path
tutional point the Supreme Tribunal is applied
to. They decide, they lift the question out of
obscurity, clear above the mists of doubt and
smoke of contention but make no new addi
tion to the constitution, no new law. They
declare and bring into prominence a point that
was always the law and coeval with the consti
tution itself. When the sunbeam falling upon
a rosebud enlarges, expands and gives full de
velopment to its leaves, we do not say that the
sun has created new leaves — no, it only unfolds
those that already nestled there ; so, circum
stances may compel the Church to define or
bring into greater prominence some article in
the deposit of faith entrusted to her keeping,
but to add to, or subtract from, that deposit is
beyond her power. The faith of the Catholic
Church had received its final addition before
St. John, the last of the Apostles, died. An
illustration will make all this clear.
In the year 325 a Great Council assembled at
Nicaea. For what purpose ? — To define that
Jesus Christ was truly God. Will those who
taunt the Catholic Church with multiplying
beliefs every time an article of faith is defined
seriously maintain that the Christian world
did not believe in the Divinity of our Lord till
114
What Infallibility Means
Why, there were bishops present whose bodies
bore marks of mutilation and imprisonment in
testimony of their belief in it. Every sod of the
empire had been reddened with martyr blood,
and the breath of the Catacombs was still fresh
upon the Church because of this belief. It was
surely no new article of faith ; yet for the first
time, it is now solemnly defined. Why ? Be
cause the Arian heretics were denying it and in
sinuating the poison of doubt into the minds of
thousands, thus sapping the faith of Christendom.
Then the voice of the Church by solemn defini
tion proclaimed it, in order to brand error,
clear away doubt, and strengthen the wavering.
The definition indeed was new, but the doctrine
defined coeval with the Church itself. Hence
when a Catholic is told that the Pope makes his
faith, he may ask in turn, does the banker mint
the sovereigns he guards? or does the judge
make the law he expounds ?
The Pope is the custodian and expounder of
our faith, but certainly not its author. That
office belongs to One alone — Christ.
Was the infallibility of the Pope first heard of infaiii-
in 1870 ? Assuredly not ! But it was then de- bility
fined, you will say ; yes, but why ? Because
the Catholics of that time were faced with the
painful fact that a doctrine acknowledged from
115 8 *
The Straight Path
the beginning was now being seriously challenged
even by some within the fold, and this in spite
of the fact that from the days of the Apostles the
Pope's dogmatic decisions had always been re
garded by the Church as final and infallible.
The Vatican Council says : " We, adhering faith
fully to the tradition handed down from the
commencement of the Christian faith, etc. ".
In proof of this let me point to three signifi
cant instances.
The Pelagian heresy raged through the
Western Church in the fifth century. Owing to
the efforts of St. Augustine, conferences were held
between the Catholic and Pelagian bishops.
Both sides submitted the controversy to the
Pope. When his decision was announced, St.
Augustine in an immortal phrase echoed the uni
versal belief of the Church of the day : " Rome
has spoken, the cause is finished ".
The When in 1713 Clement XI condemned the re-
French vived Jansenism of Quesnel, some ecclesiastics as
Jansenists. ,* . ., . , j
well as civil magistrates made an audacious ap
peal from the Pope to a General Council. For
this act they were excommunicated ; and when
they attempted to kick against the goad, they
brought upon their heads the condemnation of
four cardinals, a hundred bishops, and scores of
thousands of ecclesiastics from France alone^ —
116
What Infallibility Means
morally the entire French Church ; while the en
tire Church of Europe reprobated their action as
" schism and foolish revolt ". Here you have the
Catholic world proclaiming that from the Pope's
decision there is no appeal. Rome had spoken,
the case was closed.
In 1854 the Pope proclaimed the Immaculate immacu-
Conception of the Blessed Virgin an article of late Con-
faith. Did any portion of the Catholic world
then say that he exceeded the limits of his powers ?
or call his definition into question ?
Here we have three official acts belonging es
sentially to his domain as Infallible teacher.
These acts are exercised on his sole authority
without the aid of a General Council ; yet, mark
what followed. Previous to the Papal pronounce
ment, passionate controversy raged round each of
those questions, but the moment the decision was
spoken, every breath of controversy died, the
boldest champions abandoned their opinions ; and
on each occasion the Catholic world repeated the
sentiment of St. Augustine : u Rome has spoken,
the cause is finished ".
For fourteen hundred years the Pope's infalli- History
bility was never questioned by the faithful. ofthe
n • j c c • ' u • i SubJect-
i hen arose a period or confusion with rival
claimants for the Papal throne, and the theory
first saw the light that a General Council was
117
The Straight Path
above the Pope, and had power to annul or
modify his teaching. In other words, that Peter's
brethren were to confirm Peter — the flock to feed
the shepherd. This theory was condemned by
five Pontiffs as " execrable " ; and for long years
no more was heard of it. Two centuries ago it
burst again into dangerous activity in France.
Lawyers, politicians, and courtier-clerics were
anxious to exalt the power of the King, and cur
tail that of the Pope ; to give the temporal
prince not only the sceptre of state, but also the
keys of the sanctuary.
Those men strove, in a large measure, to with
draw the French nation from control of and de
pendence on the Holy See. As a first step in
that direction it was necessary to weaken the
prestige of the Papacy by enacting that Papal
definitions should only be deemed infallible when
sanctioned by a General Council. This move
ment was called " Gallicanism ". Before 1870
the question had begun to assume a dangerous
character. It received a powerful ally, as well
as its greatest condemnation in the modern
spirit of secularism. If these two forces could
work out their purpose the Spouse of Christ
would find herself chained to the chariot wheels
of Caesar ; the arm of God's Vicar would be
tied up, and his voice robbed of authority.
118
What Infallibility Means
Civil marriage, godless education, an infidel
press and socialistic philosophy might then run
riot, for God would have ceased to count as a
factor in a world machined by the apostles of
rationalism.
Had this movement gone unchecked, had the
Pope's infallibility not been solemnly defined as
of faith by the authoritative voice of the Church,
and had a General Council been our only official
guide, what a sad plight we should find ourselves
in to-day ! Secular encroachment in every land,
a press teeming with theories subversive of Chris
tian principles and the very elements of moral
ity, and the most cherished truths truculently
attacked. To whom could we appeal? A
General Council is not the remedy for an in
stant and pressing danger, more especially now
that the one spot on earth where it could meet
with perfect freedom — the Papal States — are in
robber hands. Was every avenue of error to
remain open, was vice to disport itself unre-
buked till a General Council could assemble ?
The Vatican Fathers met, and not a day too
soon. As the full brilliancy of the diamond is
never revealed till the darkest moment, so was it
with the Papacy.
When France was weakly withdrawing her
troops from protecting the Holy See, when the
119
The Straight Path
boom of Victor Emmanuel's cannon could be
almost heard rolling across the Campagna, when
the shadows were gathering thick around him
in apparently his weakest hour, the Pope found
himself surrounded by 767 bishops gathered
from every point of the compass. They
boldly proclaimed the Sovereign Pontiff's privi
leges, and asserted his claims. The declaration
cleared the atmosphere of doubt, it unfettered
the hands of Christ's Vicar, it swept clear from
the Church all political influence — Gallicanism,
Caesarism, Nationalism, it put the last rivet
in the shield of Catholic freedom. As a king,
with states, or in chains, surrounded by a con
sular throng of mitred heads, or in the solitude
of the prison, when the Pontiff now speaks " Ex
Cathedra " we know the infallible voice, and
our path is clear.
The The definition of the Vatican Council says :
ecree. « ^he Pope is infallible when, discharging his
office of pastor and teacher of all Christians, in
virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he de
fines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be
held by the whole Church ". Mark these words,
the subject of his definition must be faith or
morals, so that mathematics, physics, etc., are
outside the direct scope of his office. It must
be the faith or morals to be held or observed
1 20
What Infallibility Means
not by a particular nation but by the whole
Church.
In what capacity must he speak ? In one,
and one only, namely, as " pastor and teacher of
all Christians ". As a private theologian he may
publish a volume, but no guarantee of infallibil
ity attaches to his decisions in it. As a matter
of fact ^Benedict XIV, a distinguished theologian,
published works, and many of his opinions are
attacked or denied by the schoolmen of to-day.
He may as a friend exhort and advise even all
Christians, but it is only when he speaks not as a
friend but as Supreme Pastor he is infallible.
(So with the Pope.) As theologian, as mere
ordinary of the diocese of Rome, or as head of
a congregation, his decisions are not invested
with infallibility. The privilege belongs not to
the man but to his office. We rely not on
his learning or personal rectitude but on the
promise of Christ sheltering his words from
error when as Supreme Guide he directs the
universal Church. Thus, we see the privilege
is given to the Pope not for his glory but for
our security.
" Catholics believe the Pope cannot commit a impecca-
sin " is an ignorant sneer sometimes heard from
the lips of people we might credit with knowing
better. Do Catholics believe any such thing ?
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They do not. Does the definition of the Vati
can Council imply sinlessness or impeccability in
the Pope ? It does not. God permitted even
prophecy to flow through sinful lips as in the
case of Caiaphas. Here is a case in point that
strikingly illustrates our contention, and shows
the broad distinction between the man and the
official, how the personal sinfulness or sanctity
of the man cannot affect his office.
When Jesus called Lazarus forth from the
tomb the fame of that miracle rang through the
country ; in the city nothing else is spoken of
and the Pharisees are beside themselves with
rage. They assemble a council of blood, " From
that day, therefore, they devised to put Him to
death ".
The passion of murder burned in every heart
gathered around that council board, and Caiaphas
the man was as deep in guilt as the rest. Yet
when he spoke as high Driest his crimes and evil
passions are powerless to affect his utterance ;
prophecy flowed from his lips, his message was
for the world and it remained uncoloured and
untainted by the foul channel through which it
flowed.
" It is expedient for you that one man should
die for the people and that the whole nation
perish not " (John XL).
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What Infallibility Means
Here is a person actually engaged in a scheme
to plan murder, yet when he speaks officially the
Holy Ghost not only guards his words against
error but inspires the thoughts he utters.
The Evangelist adds, " He spoke not from
himself, but prophesied, he being high priest for
that year ". Mark the distinction between
" himself " and " the high priest ". At the mo
ment that Caiaphas the man is engaged in the
darkest crime that ever shadowed this earth,
Caiaphas the high priest is uttering the sublime
decrees of heaven.
How absurd then to say that because we hold
the Pope to be infallible when officially he guides
the entire Church we thereby imply that in
private life he is lifted above all human frailties.
In the new dispensation God has so safe
guarded His sacraments as, in a sense, to lift
them above and render their effects completely
independent of the minister who dispenses them.
An absolution pronounced by the guilty Judas
would have precisely the same effect on the soul
of a penitent as the absolving words flowing from
the lips of John.
So a priest may be the instrument of grace
and absolve another while in sin himself.
The weakness of His first Pope became a pro
verb, yet Christ made him the rock from which
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the whole Church was to receive firmness.
Why? Because He bestows the gift of pro
phecy, of orders, of infallibility, not for the
prophet, priest, or pope, but for the people. We
can then well understand why He does not re
quire sinlessness as an essential in the channels
through which He pours His gifts on the people.
If He did that He would defeat His own ends.
If, before we receive a prophecy, or before we
receive a sacrament, or a definition, it were neces
sary for us to ascertain the state of the soul of
the man through whose ministry God's gift was
to pass, the office and the gift would be rendered
all but worthless because of the impossibility of
verifying the condition attached. Besides, it is
a rule with God to choose the foolish things of
this world to confound the wise, and the weak
things to confound the mighty. If God had
selected an angel to direct His Church and un
fold His teaching then we should perhaps have
been inclined to attribute the gift of inerrancy
not to God's protecting providence but to the
natural qualities of His minister — the angel.
But when He selects a mere man stripped of all
superhuman advantages then the splendour of
His protecting care shines forth.
When, then, a certain class of writers and
public speakers point to the personal blemishes
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What Infallibility Means
of such and such a pope and triumphantly ask
" Where was his infallibility ? " they succeed only
in showing their ignorance of even rudimentary
Catholic teaching.
Yet though not rendered impeccable by their
office the Supreme Pontiffs were, as a rule, men
of eminent sanctity. Their bitterest foes cannot
point to more than a dozen whose lives were
not in keeping with their state, a small average
out of 259 when we consider that among the
little band of twelve apostles one Judas was
found. Those few become mere specks when
counterbalanced by the eminent virtues of the
others, seventy-nine of whom have merited the
honours of canonization. Benedict XV goes to
confession like the humblest member of his world
wide flock, each morning before ascending the
altar he strikes his breast in the confiteor, crying
" I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word,
and deed ". At the offertory, he offers up the
Host " for his innumerable sins, offences, and
negligences ". This does not look like claiming
exemption from human infirmity.
125
CHAPTER II.
THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE.
PETER WAS INFALLIBLE.
Now that we have cleared the subject of some
of the false notions ignorance and malice have
gathered around it, and have a definite idea of
what the Pope's infallibility really does mean, we
proceed to show how Sacred Scripture in the
most definite manner clearly establishes Peter's
claim to this prerogative. We will, however,
better appreciate the full significance of the sacred
texts that prove Peter's privilege when the mind
is gradually led up to them by a description of
the scenes and events that surrounded each of the
triple investiture.
Let us take the first : u Thou art Peter and
upon this rock I will build My Church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it ".
The Galilean mission closed with dramatic
splendour when Christ fed the multitude with
seven loaves and a few little fishes. It was the
parting flash from the Divine ; the final gift be
fore turning His back on a faithless people.
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The Infallibility of the Pope
" He came unto His own and His own received
Him not/'
Henceforth Jerusalem and the awful tragedy
awaiting Him occupy His thoughts ; and Galilee
daily recedes into the distance. That evening,
accompanied by His disciples, He stepped into a
boat ; its prow turns towards the northern shores
in the direction of Caesar Philipi. They are
seeking the sweet solitude of silent nature for
rest and prayer. Even then the tenebrx of Holy
Week began to cast their shadows. His heart
and speech from henceforth are filled with the
Passion. " From that time, Jesus began to show
His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and
suffer many things from the ancients and scribes
and chief priests ; and be rejected and put to
death, and the third day rise again " (Matt,
xvi. 21).
The boat glides over the placid waters, under
a sky that deepens with the crimson hues of sun
set, onward by the familiar shores where Peter
and Andrew played as boys. The snowy crests
of Hermon and Thabor tower in the distance.
At last the keel grates on the pebbly shore and
Christ steps on the beach.
It was a scene of restful beauty. The fertile
valley that sloped down from the mountain foot
to the lake teemed with luxuriant growth. The
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festooning vines and autumn blooms are on
every side. The broken music of the cascade
and fountain soothe the weary ear.
Here six days are spent in rest and prayer.
On one of those days when the apostles were
scattered through the valley, some pondering on
the miracles they lately witnessed, some others
brooding on the dark troubles that loomed in the
horizon of the future. He calls them.
A momentous hour is at hand. He is about
to found His Church and invest His first Pope
with supreme authority. He looks into their
faces and calmly asks : " Whom do men say the
Son of man is ? " The answer was a sad one.
Few had recognized Him as the Messiah. " The
light shone in the darkness and the darkness did
not comprehend it."
Then came the question charged with tremend
ous issues : " Whom do you say I am? " You
whom I have trained. You who are witnesses to
My life and miracles. On the reply to that
question, humanly speaking, the destinies of the
world hung. All are asked but one and one
alone answers — Peter.
Proof i. " Simon Peter answered and said : Thou art
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answering, said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-Jona : because flesh and blood hath not re-
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The Infallibility of the Pope
vealedit to thee, but My Father who is in heaven.
And I say to thee : that thou art Peter : and
upon this rock I will build My Church, and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it " (Matt,
xvi. 15).
It was a custom with Jewish teachers when a
pupil gave an extraordinary exhibition of learn
ing to bestow a new name upon him as a reward.
On more than one occasion God adopted a
similar proceeding.
On the solemn day He made Abram and
Sarai the fountains from which future nations
should flow, He changed their names to Abra
ham, which means the father of a multitude,
and Sarah, a princess ; these names foreshadow
the fecundity and the dignity of their offspring.
When Jacob victoriously wrestled with the angel,
as a reward and as a reminder that he should
ever prevail against men, God bestowed on him
the title " Israel," as a prince thou hast power
with God. Remember these titles are not empty
sounds, they express the nature of the new gift
or dignity conferred.
Christ here bestows a new name on His first
Pope, and, following the analogies just quoted,
it must bear a strong reference to his new office.
Our Lord addressed the apostolic body in
general : " Whom do you say that I am ? "
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The Straight Path
The word " you " is never used in Sacred Scrip
ture except in the plural, in the singular the
word is always " thee "or " thou ". Peter then,
answering for all, professed faith in Christ's
divinity : " Thou art Christ the Son of the liv
ing God". Now mark the change in Our
Lord's language : " Blessed art thou Simon Bar-
Jona ... 1 say to thee. ..." He no longer
addresses the Apostles as a body, but in reward
of Peter's faith He singles him out and to him
alone He speaks. "I say to thee: that thou
art Peter " or Rock. Behold his name is in
stantly changed from Simon to Rock. Why ?
— The Apostle himself had not time to ask,
Why ? when the Master followed it up by a
sentence showing that this act, so far from being
an empty formula, was the preliminary in the
execution of a great purpose. He is about to
constitute His Apostle the foundation support
of His future Church. Before doing so He
bestows on him a name that symbolizes his
office, and with luminous directness explains the
functions involved in it. " Thou art Rock, and
upon this rock I will build My Church and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
A. In the language in which this sentence
was originally spoken the word " Cephas " or
Peter means not an ordinary rock but one whoes
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The Infallibility of the Pope
base strikes deep into the earth and presents the
very symbol of indestructible endurance.
Our Lord had previously explained the relation
of a foundation to the building it sustains, in
His parable of the two houses, one built on
sand and the other on a rock. The rain and
wind reduced the house built on sand to ruins
while the house built upon a rock towered
above the wildest storms. Why? Because of
the strength it receives from its foundation.
This parable was fresh in the Apostles' mem
ories when He addressed their Chief in the
words quoted. Here Peter is constituted the
foundation of the Church that Christ was
about to raise, supporting not only the indi
vidual stones but the entire building. From
the foundation the whole Church would receive
stable firmness.
But what is the bond that cements the in
dividual members into that spiritual edifice called
the Church ? Unity of faith allied to unity of
government. St. Ambrose defines it as : " A
congregation bound together by the unity of
faith and charity ". Now, how is this unity of
faith and government to be assured unless the
rock on which Christ reared His Church be it
self proof against the corrosion and disintegrat
ing influences of error. But if Peter could err
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in teaching would not the Church built on Peter
totter on its rotten foundation. You cannot at
any time imagine an immovable building resting
on a staggering foundation, but especially a
building that God assures you is to derive its
strength and firmness from the basement rock
that supports it.
B. " And the gates of hell shall not prevail
against her."
A forewarning is given here that the future
holds trials and storms for which the Church
must be prepared, and a promise absolute and
unqualified that she shall be invincible — " They
shall not prevail against her ".
Now, by what more effectual method would
the powers of hell prevail against her than by
corrupting her faith? She accepting an ad
mixture of falsehood and receiving mere human
inventions as revealed truth ? But what security
has she against such a deplorable pass, if the
Pope, from whom she is bound to take her
teaching, is not secure against error — if he is
not infallible ?
C. Since Christ invested Peter with supreme
authority to teach the universal Church, a cor
responding obligation, as we shall presently see,
rested on the faithful to follow that teaching.
But if He left Peter unprotected against error
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The Infallibility of the Pope
you would have the strange spectacle of an infal
lible Church yoked to an erring, fallible head.
What a bewildering dilemma would not the flock
entrusted to such a shepherd find itself in ! They
cannot revolt against a head appointed by Christ,
and yet that head they cannot follow, lest he
lead them into error, and reduce our Lord's
promise of perpetual security to a riddle.
Their perplexity might be expressed thus :
We cannot leave him, yet we cannot follow
him ; or, in other words, we cannot march, and
we dare not halt. A Church reduced to these
straits of contradiction and indecision would pre
sent a curious spectacle indeed of a Divine
organism. In a body so constituted where could
we discover a trace of an all-wise Architect's
hand ?
Take then from Peter his protection of infalli
bility, and the Church over which Christ placed
him, so far from exhibiting the character of her
divine birth, would, stand before the world
covered with derision.
The second occasion on which our Lord con
ferred supreme authority on Peter was shortly
after His Resurrection. The Apostles had spent
the Easter octave at Jerusalem. The reunion of
their body was restored on the octave day when
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Christ appeared to heal the incredulity of
Thomas. The time was not yet come when they
should assemble at the appointed spot to receive
the Spirit of Pentecost ; so seven of them returned
to their native country. Once more they are
by the lake suggestive of many a striking event
in the past three years' history. It lies like a
sapphire set in the green bosom of Galilee. The
scene stirred within Peter a longing to return,
for, a time, to his old occupation. It might help
too to kill the sad recollection of his fall that kept
gnawing at his heart strings, so he said, " I go
fish ". The others joined him. Through the
long still night they laboured and caught nothing.
They are tired, hungry, and sad. The early dawn
is breaking ; under the rosy glow and above the
cool shadows that were still lying on the pebbly
beach there stood the figure of one they knew
not. He said to them, " Children, have you any
meat?'7 Mark the word "Children" — how
touchingly tender ! They answered " No ".
" Cast the net on the right side of the ship."
They did so, and it was instantly filled with fish.
This incident awakened the memory of a similar
event in the mind of John, and he whispered to
Peter, " It is the Lord ". On the shore they
found hot coals with a fish laid thereon, and
bread ; and Christ said : " Come and dine ".
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The Infallibility of the Pope
Taking bread and fish He gave to them. What
loving solicitude for His little flock !
When they had dined in silence Christ then proof n,
said : —
" Simon son of John, lovest thou Me more
than these ? He saith to Him : Yea, Lord,
Thou knowest that I love Thee. He saith to
him : Feed My lambs. He saith to him
again : Simon son of John, lovest thou Me?
He saith to Him : Yea, Lord, Thou knowest
that I love Thee. He saith to him : Feed
My lambs. He saith to him the third time :
Simon son of John, lovest thou Me? And
he said to Him : Lord, Thou knowest all
things : Thou knowest that I love Thee. He
said to him Feed My sheep."
The metaphor employed here was familiar at
the time. Ruler and ruled were constantly
spoken of as shepherd and flock. Homer,
whose language comes nearest to the Scripture,
speaks of kings as " the shepherds of the people ".
St. Peter calls Christ " the Prince of shepherds "
and warns pastors to " feed their flocks ". The
Apostle of the Gentiles at his departure from
Ephesus reminds the bishops : " Take heed to
yourselves and to the whole flock, wherein the
Holy Ghost hath placed you bishops ". Christ
speaks of Himself as " The Good Shepherd ".
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Here, to Peter and his successors is com
mitted the charge of feeding the entire flock,
clergy and laity, that is, to guide, teach, and
protect them. To give them the food of sound
doctrine, sacraments, etc. That being so, the
corresponding duty of the flock is evident — to
accept that teaching.
From the day those words were uttered Ca
tholic Christendom recognized this duty. What
Rome approves, the universal Church approves.
What Rome condemns the universal Church
condemns. Communion with Rome has always
been the touchstone of orthodoxy. " Where
Peter is there is the Church." Why has there
been through every age a perpetual current of
questions from all parts of the world flowing to
Rome? Because there all expect to find the
untainted doctrine.
Now let us for a moment suppose the Pope
liable to teach error and you would have him
leading the entire flock, clergy and people, not
into the healthy pasturage of truth but to the
poison food of falsehood. Is it for this purpose
Christ appointed him Chief Pastor of his flock —
that he might lead them to death ? Was not
God bound to safeguard him in his teaching
when He foresaw that the Christian world, look
ing on itself bound by His Own words, would
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The Infallibility of the Pope
accept the teaching of the Chief Pastor He
placed over it ?
The last scene to which we invite your
thoughts was enacted on Holy Thursday night.
The first Mass is said. The lamplight falls on
faces aglow with wondering love. Judas has
just left them and every one felt relieved, a
ghastly incubus was removed and the spirits of
the little band revived.
Christ then delivered that beautiful discourse
on charity, recorded by St. John. In it He
rends the veil that hid His Sacred Heart, and
lays bare its depths of love. It is love's tri
umphal song. But a sad refrain breaks through
it all. At intervals His voice assumes a mourn
ful cadence and broken fragments of sorrow
drop from His lips : " Little children, yet a
little while I am with you ". ..." I will come
again and take you to Myself." ... "I will
not leave you orphans." . . . The whole ad
dress breathes " farewell ". It is evident they
are about to be separated from their Master.
There is no mistaking these words. He is
going to death. Peter's fears are aroused. His
generous spirit is aflame ; and he protests that he
will die but he will not be torn from his Lord.
" I will lay down my life for Thee." " I am
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ready to go with Thee both unto prison and
death." Christ then turned sad eyes on the
poor man. Full well He knew the feeble clay
of which that heart was made. He pitied the
unstable spirit that prompted this rash protest.
He warned him of his impending fall : u The
cock shall not crow this day twice till thou deny
Me thrice ". This prediction of Peter's fall,
however, was immediately followed up by the
promise of a glorious privilege — the future inde-
fectibility of Peter's faith. That a day would
come when the heart purified of dross, and the
feeble will rendered firm as an iron pillar by the
fire of Pentecost, would withstand the fiercest
trials. More, not only would Peter's own faith
remain unshaken but he would discharge the
office of confirming the faith of his brethren.
Proof in. " Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to
have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I
have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not : and
thou being once converted confirm thy brethren "
(Luke xxii. 31).
This prayer for Peter's unfailing faith was ab
solute. It was not for Peter personally, but
Peter the Head of the Church, the Prince of the
Apostles. This prayer was efficacious, and
Christ, knowing that it was heard, proceeds to
invest him with the office of confirming his
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The Infallibility of the Pope
brethren. Christ asks that Peter's faith shall not
fail. Why ? In order that he may confirm the
faith of his brethren, strengthen and secure their
faith against error.
Surely this power to confirm the faith of others
against error must carry with it the privilege of
infallibility, for if he himself were not free from
error, and required confirming, might not his
brethren say to him : " Physician heal thyself".
If the protection of infallibility did not secure
the Pope against error, might it not be said that
he would drag down in his fall, aye, more than a
third of the stars of heaven ! The defection of
a single soldier is of small account, but when the
field marshal, in the hollow of whose hands lie
the for tunes of all, is entrapped, that army's doom
is sealed. A city nourished by a thousand
streams can afford to have one corrupted, but
woe to that city if the fountain from which they
all flow be poisoned to its depths.
THE POPE IS INFALLIBLE.
WE have conclusively established that Christ con
stituted Peter the rock immovable on which His
Church should stand secure against all the assaults
of error ; that He empowered that same Peter
to feed the entire flock on the wholesome pastur
age of sound doctrine ; and to Peter too He
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entrusted the office of confirming his brethren.
And we have seen that without the protection
of infallibility none of these offices could Peter
discharge.
Was that privilege to die when the Fisherman
of Galilee stretched his arms on the cross and
yielded up the ghost at Rome ? Certainly not.
The privilege of infallibility belonged not to the
man but to the Pope. It was attached to the
office and not to the person. Therefore it has
lived in his successors down through the ages,
and lives in his Successor to-day. A moment's
reflection will make this evident.
The Church stands till the end of time, and so
long as she lasts the powers of hell will never
abate their fury. The weapons may vary but the
fierceness of the assault will not diminish. Her
enemies dare not drag into the light of the
twentieth century the rusty instruments of tor
ture that disfigured other times ; but the oppres
sive law, the godless school, the atheistic press
and the secret society are forces to be more
dreaded than the pitch cap and the prison. Yes !
around that Church the waves of hell for ever
lash their sleepless fury. Such being the case, the-
rock foundation of her security is as necessary in
our own day as it was when Peter ruled at An-
tioch. The pastor's watchful care to feed and
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The Infallibility of the Pope
guard his flock is even more needed now than
when the first pope was commissioned.
What efforts are left untried to poison the
sacred food of truth ! What article in the whole
deposit of revelation is free from truculent as
sault !
The press daily vomits forth the lie, the soph
istry, the caricature, the jibe. The poison in its
most subtle form insinuates itself into persons
and places most unsuspected. The sanctuary it
self is not secure against assault. The very at
mosphere of our times is darkened with error.
Woe to the flock to-day if the Pastor commis
sioned to feed, guide, and protect it was not
error-proof himself.
Peter's brethren still need his confirming hand.
Ah ! if two out of the chosen twelve yielded to
Satan's siftings and fell, what would become of
Peter's brethren when their numbers are re
corded by tens of thousands, except the hand of
Peter's Successor was strengthened to confirm
them.
It is manifestly evident then that the protec
tion of infallibility for the Church's Chief Pastor
was as necessary in the tenth or twentieth cen
turies as it was in the first. Therefore it could
not die with the man but should remain the
sacred inheritance of his heirs.
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But since the Roman Pontiffs alone have
claimed to be his successors it follows that this
privilege of infallibility, so essential to the
Church's life, lives as strongly in Benedict XV as
in Peter I, and will reside with his successors till
the last pope hands up his pastoral staff.
Confirma- If tne P°Pe is not infallible, why cannot the
tion of world prove that he has erred ? Here is a
straight issue.
When the Vatican Council assembled to pro
claim his privilege forty-five years ago, all the
learning and research of Protestant and infidel
Europe were brought to bear upon the subject.
A living fire of criticism was focussed on the
history of the Papacy. The literary world rang
with the din of fervid activity. A great but per
verse genius, Dr. Dollinger, supplied a very ar
senal of weapons to all. Mr. Gladstone threw
himself into the attack with an acrimony seldom
bestowed on his political opponents. Long years
had rolled by since a pope's first official pro
nouncement was made, and how numerous have
they not been ! What heresy arose on which the
clear authoritative voice has not been heard !
Those documents are before the world. Every
advantage — a printing press, increased know
ledge, scientific discoveries — is on the side of his
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The Infallibility of the Pope
foes. The issue is now knit to a single point.
Let them produce one single Papal pronounce
ment with a proved error. Let them discover
one pope to have contradicted another, or to have
contradicted a General Council, and they will
make the Vatican assembly the laughing-stock of
Europe. Did they succeed ? If the untiring
energy of a thousand able pens, and an army of
great intellects could ensure success, victory was
theirs ; but failure, dismal failure, was the end of
all their efforts.
Errors and blemishes they did discover in
popes when acting in capacities other than uni
versal guides in faith and morals, but this only
strengthens the Papal claim ; for it is by con
trast with the human feebleness of Peter in his
other actions that the splendour of his divine
prerogative shines.
What difficulty can any Protestant have in ac
cepting Papal Infallibility ? He has already ac
cepted far more. He believes that God inspired
the four Evangelists, that is : —
1. He believes that God moved their wills to
write.
2. He believes that God poured light on their
intellects, by which the writer conceived exactly
the work that the Holy Ghost wanted him to
write ; and
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3. He believes that He protected him against
error.
Now, infallibility demands but a third of this,
namely, security against error, without which
the Evangelists' work would be of small benefit
to mankind.
To place a Bible abounding in difficulties and
apparent contradictions in the hands of all to
draw a thousand different, conflicting meanings
out of it would be to challenge God's wisdom.
But when beside the voiceless Volume He places
the living organ to interpret it, extending to
him the same freedom from error with which
He shielded the writers, then, and only then,
the system is complete, and worthy of Divine
authorship.
144
CHAPTER III.
TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS OF THE PAPACY.
" Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it "
(MATT. xvi. 18).
IN the words of this text our Lord assures Peter
that though the powers of darkness will gather
their wildest fury to dash upon him, still he need
have no fear, the gates of hell shall not prevail.
I will ask you now to accompany me up the
avenue of time and see the fulfilment of this
promise standing out on every page of history.
If, on the one hand, we view the almost abso
lute want of temporal power on the part of Peter
and, on the other, the stupendous efforts made for
the destruction of the Apostolic See, the most
sceptical mind must recognize the fulfilment of
this promise.
The bayonets of no powerful legions uphold
the throne of Peter. No great European alli
ances make his name feared and respected, and
the leagued forces of earth were never more
145 10
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powerful or united than when they sought the
destruction of the Papacy.
In making Rome his home and the centre of
his operations, Peter, to human eyes at least,
entered on a most unequal contest.
The glory and the terror of the Roman arms
had filled the world. Every land was ministering
to its pride ; yet it was to fight that luxury, to
christianize those cruel hearts and destroy that
idolatrous worship so entwined around their his
tory and their victories, that Peter directed his
first efforts.
Every force at the empire's command com
bined to crush the despised Christians. In
frenzied rage the mob cried out, " Christians to
the lions ". But as the highest point always at
tracts the thunderbolt, so, " the father of the
Christians," as the Pope was called, was the ob
ject of their special fury.
During the first three centuries the tiara was
but the prelude to the martyr's crown. Thirty
popes poured out their blood for Christ. Five
and forty were either driven from Rome or never
set their feet upon it.
Four times was the sword of destruction
flashed above the head of Rome. Twice was
she so reduced that her desolation awed her
very besiegers, and there was nothing left to break
146
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
the silence in her who was once the proud mis
tress of empires save the howling of foxes on the
Aventine.
Where is the human destiny that would re
ceive such shocks and live ? Yet, " The proudest
royal house is but as yesterday compared with
the line of Supreme Pontiffs. . . . The Papacy
remains not a mere antique but full of life and
youthful vigour."
We shall now begin our march up the high
road of time, pausing at four different stages
where we may witness in full dramatic splendour
the Trials and the Triumphs of the Papacy.
The dripping sword of persecution rested in First
the scabbard for scarce a century when the stase-
Papacy was called upon to play a leading part in arj th°pe
one of the most eventful dramas of human his- barbari-
tory. The old Roman empire was in decay and an8'
must eventually fall under its own unwieldy
bulk if a barbarian had never lifted his hand.
But see ! Out from the German and Scythian
forests savage hordes are looking through hungry
eyes on the bloated carcase of the tottering em
pire.
Wave after wave of those fiery barbarians
broke over her frontiers. The Huns followed
in the wake of the Goths, and the ruins that
147 10*
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marked the path of the destroyer were still smok
ing when the Vandals dashed after the Huns.
During the fifth and sixth centuries we see
those dark masses rushing to lay low the pride
and punish the crimes of guilty Rome.
In 453 the Huns came, warriors recruited
from Hungary, Russia, and Tartary. So ter
rible were they that even the fierce Goths and
Vandals fled before them. They were led by
Attila, a man whose character embraces all our
wildest conceptions of what a fierce barbarian
should be. As a warrior he was like a lion
breathing red fury on those on whom he turned.
He called himself " the hammer of the universe "
and " the scourge of God," and boasted that
wherever Attila's horses trod no grass would
grow.
Such was the chief that turned his greedy eyes
on Italy and swore that he would carry his
victorious sword to the very heart of Rome.
Like an avalanche of destruction Attila with a
half million fierce savages behind him rolled over
the fair face of Lombardy .
Every day brought messages of terror to
Rome that Attila and the Huns were hastening
to her gates.
There was no earthly power left now to stay his
onward march ; for the conquerors of Greece
148
Trials and* Triumphs of the Papacy
and Carthage were long since dead and their de
generate descendants could offer poor resistance
to hardy soldiers who were cradled in the
snows of Russia and Hungary, who from boy
hood were inured to the hardships of the camp,
and whose courage was fed by the recollection of
countless victories.
We might to-day be searching through ploughed
fields for the ruins of that city that was once the
queen of empires were she not saved by the
Papacy. Like Thebes or Carthage or Babylon,
the very name of Rome would have been erased
from the map. In one week ten centuries of
civilization would have been trampled under the
hoofs of Scythian cavalry did not the fearless
spirit of Pope Leo I rise superior to the darkest
hour of his country's fortunes.
Clad in priestly vestments, unarmed, preceded
by the Crucifix, he approached the barbarian
camp.
The two great sovereignties — the sovereignty Leo i.
of the word and the sovereignity of the sword —
are confronting each other. Attila and Leo I
stand face to face. It was a striking picture.
The fierce warrior who had trampled on the
necks of kings surrounded by his barbaric
legions is in the presence of the Vicar of peace
whose only weapon is the cross. One breathing
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the fire of destruction, the other the perfume of
love and mercy.
That momentous meeting was to decide the
fate of the civilized world.
The life and fortune of millions hung in the
balance that hour.
Failure on the part of Leo would throw open
the sluice gates to a deluge of barbarian violence
such as the world never witnessed. Homes
would be made desolate, virtue outraged, altars
levelled, and the whole fabric of civilized society
would crash into a thousand fragments under
the iron truncheon of that savage chief.
But as Peter's Master marked the limits of
the ocean's fury with a grain of sand, so Peter's
successor commanded the barbarian wave to go
thus far and no farther. The majestic aspect,
the pressing and eloquence of Leo excited the
veneration of the barbarian and induced him to
strike his tents and turn his face towards the
Alps. The sword bowed before the superior
majesty of the cross.
Explaining his action, afterwards, to his as
tonished officers, Attila said, " I yielded not so
much to the father of the Christians, but at each
side of him I saw the Apostles Peter and Paul
standing with drawn swords threatening me if I
dared to march on Rome ".
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Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
Thus did Rome — and Rome then stood for
the world's civilization — owe its life to the
great Leo. To him might be given the eulogy
bestowed by Gibbon on another Leo.
" He was a born Roman, a Roman the great
Julius would be proud to acknowledge. The
courage of the first ages of the republic glowed
within his breast, and amidst the ruins of his
country he stood erect like one of those firm
and lofty columns that raise their heads above the
desolation of the forum."
Did the triumph of the Papacy pause here ?
No. The Papacy conquered the conqueror.
Like the spent waves that leave ripple ridges on
the shore, each barbarian tide left thousands
behind in Italy. They were baptized, they ac
cepted the Church's message and they cleaved
to the soil.
Mark the result. As the richest vines spring
from the very lava that once swept life in its
fiery breath, and as the fairest cornfields wave
above those plains over which the Nile rolled ;
so, through the influence of the Papacy, those
men whose very names carried terror to Italy
were transformed into brave and docile sons of
the Church.
Out of the very elements of destruction Peter
moulded the Europe of mediaeval times — the
The Straight Path
Europe of the crusaders with their martial
ardour, their heroic chivalry and tender de
votion.
But his conquest was not yet complete.
Through his missionaries he pursued them to
their huts by the Rhine and Danube.
Thus the conquerors of imperial Rome be
came the obedient sons of papal Rome, and the
wild shout of onslaught gradually faded into the
matin song of the monk and the virgin's vesper
hymn.
The We now move up to our second halting-place
on the high-road of history and see the Papacy
The Pa- in deadly grip with kingly encroachments,
pacy and Europe of the eleventh century had not out-
Tyfanny grown its barbarism. The old leaven was still
1085. strong ; despotic kings, turbulent nobles, de
graded serfs. Out of the process of transforma
tion disorders sprung that required a strong
reforming hand. Simony within the Church
and royal usurpation outside.
Let us have a clear notion of how matters
stood.
Kings and nobles gave endowments of land
to parishes and bishoprics.
Now according to the feudal custom when a
man received possession of this land, as a symbol
152
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
of that property the lord presented him with a
sod of the soil and a twig — types of the land and
its fruits.
But when a bishop received his land from a
king or chieftain, instead of investing him with
the sod and twig, he was invested with the symbols
of his spiritual authority — the ring and crozier.
From this custom the temporal chiefs easily
persuaded themselves that not only the lands
but the ecclesiastical office itself was theirs to
bestow on whom they chose. Here you have
the root evil from which a thousand disorders
sprung. Watch how it worked out in practice.
Nobles ambitious to secure rich benefices and
hold the revenues in their families obtained
ordination for their younger sons, who so far
from abandoning the secular world and prepar
ing for the sacred ministry by a long course of
study and exercises of piety, continued to live
with their brothers in the chase, the court, or
the battle-field. The vices that flourished in such
careers remained unchecked — strange material
from which to form the monk or the priest !
Kings, hard pressed for money, little scrupled
to hold ecclesiastical offices up to the highest
bidder or the largest bribe, or reward the
favourite of the camp or court.
Thus the freedom of ecclesiastical appointments
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became annihilated, and the selection of a bishop
or abbot became the privilege of the layman.
Naturally disorders became inevitable.
When a church office became vacant wealthy
competitors jostled each other, and the position
went not to the life of purest virtue or the man
of most conspicuous ability, but to the heaviest
purse.
The more disorders multiplied within the
Church the tighter became the grip of secular en
croachment from without. The civil arm was
thrust in, till the heart of the Church was held in
the mailed grasp of the robber-noble or despot
king. It seemed as if Christ was asleep while the
vessel of His Church was tossed among the rocks
and breakers.
Should a temporal kingdom fall into such dis
orders its doom was sealed, for within itself there
would be no fulcrum or foothold found from
which to build up. Within the kingdom of
Christ it is different. A day of great awaking
was at hand. These scandals and disorders lay
where scum and weeds generally lie — on the sur
face. All this while there were precious gems
lying at the bottom. Scattered here and there
were groups of holy men, who though few in
number were a great moral force. It was the age
of Anselm, Lanfranc, Wolstan, and Peter Damien.
154
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
Within the Church was a soul that was slowly
but surely awaking, and asserted itself through
the life of one of the most fearless champions of
reform the world ever saw — Gregory VII, Hilde-
brand.
He dwelt in a Roman monastery, and from the Hiide-
shade of his cowl his eagle i glance penetrated the brand>
multiplied evils in every land, and the heart
within him burned. He had served under four
popes, and every year saw him rise higher in
public estimation. Honours, so far from causing
him to relax, only increased the rigor of his mon
astic austerities.
A mind of crystal clearness, a will of inflex
ible firmness, and a courage that quailed before
no difficulty.
The two ideals that ever burned before his
mind : —
1. To restore to the sanctuary a purified
clergy — men in whose lives Christ would walk
the earth once more. .
2. To strike off the arm of secular encroach
ment that was strangling the Church's freedom.
The Church of Christ, he cried, must be pure
but she must be also free. Not only must she
stand before the world without a blemish but she
must also stand without a fetter. She must show
herself the spotless spouse of Christ, but the
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spouse of Christ not chained to the chariot wheels
of every petty Caesar. These were the two goals
of his life-long dream.
When the throne of Peter became vacant the
acclamations of the clergy and people proclaimed
Hildebrand Pope.
He is now placed where he can carry out the
twofold ambition of his life.
The tiara was scarcely placed upon his brow
till he began a war against vice within and tyranny
without that seemed well-nigh madness.
He published a decree excommunicating all
clergy who would receive or who had received
their livings through simony. It touched thou
sands to the quick, laity as well as clergy, for
if the clergy could not buy the laity could not
sell. There was not a crowned head in Europe
but whose interest it was to defeat him. It
aroused a tempest of the wildest fury. " I am
beaten/' he says, " by a thousand storms, my
life is one prolonged agony."
Henry iv. The Papacy stood alone against the world in
arms. The conflict was brought to an issue by
Henry IV of Germany.
His exactions drove his Saxon subjects to re
bellion. Sixty thousand took the field. Henry
triumphed. Flushed with victory he turned his
arms against the apostolic See. The contest
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
heightens. The Papacy and the powers of dark
ness are locked in deadly embrace. The emperor
trampled on the Pope's decree, invested his crea
tures with ring and crozier, and publicly sold
benefices.
The Pope remonstrated with fatherly kindness.
The monarch replied by calling a mock council
of excommunicated men who passed a decree de
posing Hildebrand.
The struggle now reaches its crucial point.
If the Pope for a moment wavered all was lost.
Should the German emperor triumph in that
struggle what was to follow — the Church would
be chained hand and foot to the caprice of every
despot, reduced to the position of a pet magpie
with clipped wings, the plaything of the state. If
the Pope receded an inch the barriers would fall
down and an inrush of vice and simony would
invade the sanctuary. He must strike hard, for
all was now knit in the one question : Shall
the Church of God live free, or throttled by the
secular arm ?
Hildebrand was not the man to quail. He
excommunicated Henry.
The bolt was sped, and the hand of God fol
lowed that of His Vicar and dealt terribly with
those who opposed him.
The man who at the mock council issued i his
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deposition was seized with a fatal illness and
died in despair. At the moment of his death
lightning struck his palace and that of the em
peror whose instrument he was.
The emperor's terrified adherents stole over
the Alps in groups to beg the Pope's forgive
ness. His nobles, the very servants of his house
hold, abandoned him as a man doomed to God's
wrath.
A spirit of compunction seized the monarch
and he set out in a winter of unparalleled severity
to beg absolution. With one solitary attendant
accompanied by his wife and child he climbed
the snowy heights of the Alps through blizzards
and freezing winds. He crept down the other
side on his hands and knees. Thus did the
sacrilegious monarch hasten for forgiveness to
the dauntless old man who stood like a rock in
mid-ocean bared and lashed by the wild furies of
the tempest that his trumpet of reform had
aroused.
Canossa. The Pope was at the Castle of Canossa.
Henry, stripped of every badge of royalty, in
the coarse garb of penance, barefoot in the winter
snows, spent three days on the ramparts. On
the fourth day he is admitted to an audience, is
reconciled and absolved. But his repentance was
of short duration. Wounded pride reasserted it-
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Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
self. He crossed the Alps once more, this time
not as a penitent but at the head of a powerful
army. He besieged and sacked Rome. The
great Pontiff retired to Salerno. The city of
his love was in flames. The moderation of
Goth and Vandal was shamed by the fury of a
Christian army.
The lion heart that for twelve years had
battled against vice is torn with anguish and is
about to beat its last. Turning to his attend
ants he exclaimed : "I have loved justice and
hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile ".
But like his Divine Master the darkest hour
marked the triumph of his cause.
The two ideals of his life were accomplished.
Vice fled the sanctuary. A purified clergy
ministered at the altar, and the grasp of civil
encroachment was broken for ever.
From the tomb of Gregory the Papacy arose
not shorn of its ancient splendour but strong,
vigorous, and triumphant.
We now once more move upwards on history's The third
high-road and take our stand in the last quarter stase-
of the sixteenth century. We look out and see ! Ba^tle of
An ominous cloud of destruction hangs above Lepanto
Europe — the threatened danger of the absolute laves
r L -n i Europe,
supremacy of the Turk. i57i.
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The Straight Path
For more than a thousand years the Ottoman
power kept swelling, adding conquest to conquest.
Tartar hordes from the North rolled down in
waves over the Eastern world, and wherever
their flag cast its shadow a blight fell. Untold
barbarities and desolation marked their march.
Civilization withered in their dark presence.
Asia Minor, once the granary of the world and
the home of arts, was turned into a desert. His
conquest of the East was complete when, a
hundred years previously, the last remnant of
what was once the Roman Empire fell before him.
Constantinople, the key that opened the west to
the east, became his (1453).
With the eastern world at his feet, entrenched
in the capital of the great Constantine, his power
quickly shot over Servia, Bulgaria, and Mace
donia.
Flushed with victory, standing on these newly
conquered lands he saw but a small ribbon of
water separating him from the choicest portion
of Europe, and a new field of glory unfolded it
self before the eyes of his ambition's dream.
The conquest of the western world would now
make him master of the universe.
It was a dazzling project. Small wonder if in
vision he already saw his sacred banners floating
from the spires of the European capitals and the
1 60
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
swarthy sons of the desert dictating terms to con
quered Christendom. The state of Europe just
then offered a golden opportunity. It was toss
ing in the welter of religious confusion that fol
lowed in the wake of the Reformation. Here
was the chance for the children of Mohammed.
Their legions were countless, their scimitars sharp,
and, already conquerors of half the world, they
believed themselves invincible. In the name of
Allah and the prophet this was the hour to strike.
This ambitious project soon emerged from the
region of dreams and solidified into hard fact.
The crescent flag began to flutter over the Adriatic
and the Mediterranean, the boom of Turkish
guns rolled along the Italian coasts, swarms of
turbaned savages might any day come pouring
into the streets of London or Vienna, and the
boast of one of their sultans (Bajagget) be real
ized when he said he would feed his horse from
a bushel of oats off the altar of St. Peter's. With
this war cloud hanging over her now what effort
did Europe make to save herself ? One eye alone
kept faithful watch, and one clarion voice alone
rang through Christendom calling on the chivalry
of Europe to rise and meet the common foe.
That voice was the Pope's.
Pius V is the last of the canonized popes. In pjus v.
early years he was a Dominican friar ; he carried
161 ii
The Straight Path
to the throne of Peter the habits of austere piety
and incessant prayer.
He sent urgent appeals to every court in
Christendom, yet though Europe was quaking
with terror and every day brought tales of Turk
ish barbarities that chilled the blood the voice of
bigotry rose higher even than the cry of self-
preservation ; and England, Russia, and Germany
were prepared to see the swarthy hordes masters
of London and St. Petersburg and Berlin rather
than listen to the Pope when he asked them to
hurl back the dark curse that threatened to quench
the light of Christian civilization.
Two powers alone answered to their father's
call — the little republic of Venice and ever faith
ful Spain.
Between these the Pope could muster but
twenty thousand soldiers and a hundred small
vessels. The Mohammedans outnumbered them
in ships and men by three to one. But to supply
the want of arms Pius, like another Moses,
stormed heaven with prayer, and prayer won the
battle.
Don John. Don John of Austria, half brother to the king
of Spain, was appointed high admiral. He sailed
in search of the Turkish fleet and he found it
lying off southern Italy in the Gulf of Lepanto
on the first Sunday of October, 1571. The
162
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
scene was striking. The Ionian Islands whose
thousand beauties were lighted up by the autumn
sun rose behind the Christian fleet.
The banner of St. Peter is floating from every
mast. In the prow of the admiral's ship is a huge
statue of the Blessed Virgin, while hymns of
Mary rose and fell over the sunlit waters.
Crucifix in hand, Don John rowed from vessel
to vessel exhorting soldiers and generals to show
themselves worthy of the sacred cause for which
they fought. It was a thrilling spectacle. Four
hundred vessels of war are confronting each other.
Two worlds — the east and the west — are looking
into each other's faces. The last bulwark of
Europe's freedom — the chivalry of the crusaders
—is about to measure swords with the terrible
Turk.
The world looked on and held its breath.
Terrible issues are at stake. Before the setting
sun shall sink into the blue Mediterranean either
Europe will be under the heel of the Moslem
conqueror or his power smashed for ever. The
two fleets pause to survey each other and then
the signal is given for battle by Don John hang
ing out from the ship a picture of the Crucifixion.
The soldiers fall on their knees in prayer, then
blessing themselves they rush with a wild cry of
joy upon the Turks. Vengeance for the cruel-
163 ii *
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ties of a thousand years hung upon their swords
that day.
Lepanto. For three hours the battle raged and the
smoke darkened the heavens. Though the
Mohammedans were vastly superior in numbers,
out of three hundred and thirty ships fifty alone
escaped, and thirty thousand turbaned heads
went down.
But better still was the moral effect. The Mo
hammedans looked on themselves as unconquer
able. That day the spell was broken ; their
prestige for ever vanished. For over a hundred
years Christendom was quaking, but from the
waters of Lepanto Pius V bid craven Europe
pluck up its courage, that the chivalry of the
crusaders was living still. From the high sanctu
ary of heaven their spirits looked down and re
joiced, their glorious work was crowned and the
dread power received a blow from which it never
recovered.
On that same day — the first Sunday of Octo
ber, 1571 — the procession of the rosary was
pouring forth at Rome when the sainted Pope,
looking up to the heavens, paused and turning to
the cardinals said : " A truce to our business ;
our great work now is to return thanks to God
for the great victory He has given to the Chris
tian arms ".
164
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
A few days afterwards the news of Lepanto
came to Rome, and told that at the very hour
Pius uttered those words the Turkish power re
ceived its death-blow. In thanksgiving for that
memorable victory the Pope added the title
1 'Help of Christians" to the Litany of Our
Lady, and dedicated the first Sunday of October
to the Queen of the Rosary.
Once more Europe owed its civilization to the
Papacy.
Lepanto, Lepanto ! sent a thrill through every
Christian heart. From that day the nightmare
vanished ; the danger of Mohammedan invasion
no longer disturbed the repose of Europe. The
destruction of the Turkish power in our own
time is but the completion of the glorious blow
struck by the Papal army in the Gulf of Le
panto.
We now approach our final stage. The light Fourth
of our own day is breaking over the last fierce stage-
.... ¥ . -r, XT The Pope
assault on the institution or the Papacy. Never and Na_
since Pentecost was witnessed a more gloomy poieon,
epoch than that which marked the closing years l8°6'
of the eighteenth century. The apostles of in
fidelity were busy. The poisonous seed was cast
far and wide. The ablest pens and richest in
tellects were enlisted in the anti-Christian
crusade. Scoff" and ridicule, brilliant prose and
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thrilling verse, were pointed against the most
cherished Christian truths. The new infidelity
penetrated to the palace and the cabin. States
men leagued to carry out the teaching of the
encyclopedist philosophers. Statesmen, philo
sophers, ribald journalists, secret societies, all had
one common goal, one aim — the Papacy. The
oppressive law, the wit, the lie, the caricature
met at one centre point — Christ's Vicar. Society
was loosened. It was the hour of the powers of
darkness. On every side were ominous portents
of a social earthquake that would convulse man
kind. It burst in the French Revolution.
French The world was torn in fragments and the
Revolu- proudest institutions whirled in the vortex of
seething anarchy. Bishops and priests were
butchered at the guillotine or sent to die of
hunger on abandoned hulks. The bells were
silent, the church doors closed, the shrines
plundered, the silver crucifixes melted down,
religious communities were thrown upon the
world ; buffoons in copes and surplices danced
through the streets.
Raging in a frenzy of blasphemy the citizens
of Paris enthroned on the high altar of Notre
Dame an abandoned woman, swung censers be
fore her, and crowned her as the goddess of
reason.
1 66
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
A new scene opens on the drama of wickedness.
Napoleon led his soldiers to the summit of Napoleon,
the Alps, and turning the point of his sword to
wards Italy, spoke those remarkable words :
" Soldiers, you are ill-fed and badly clothed ;
the Directory owes you much but can pay you
nothing ; behold this fair land, it is yours".
Like an avalanche they swept over the plains
of Lombardy, crowned themselves with fresh
laurels at Marengo, and once more the tread of
the spoiler awakens the echoes of Old Rome.
A deluge of ribald licence invaded the city.
The blare of trumpets and the tramp of cavalry
resounded through her most sacred fanes. The
waves of psalmody were hushed, and the air was
laden with jeer and blasphemy. The tricolor
floated over St. Angelo, and the tree of liberty
was planted before St. Peter's. Nor was the
person of the Holy Father spared. Before the
grey dawn of the winter's morning broke, the
soldiers burst into the oratory of Pius VI.
Here they beheld a scene that might well touch
the hardest hearts. The venerable Head of
Christendom with the weight of eighty years
upon him praying for God's afflicted Church.
Did they pause before that touching spectacle ?
Alas ! the devil had trampled every spark of
humanity out of their hearts. The Pope was
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made a prisoner. His apartments were rifled
before his eyes. The ring of the fisherman was
torn from his finger. He was hustled into the
streets with a brutal roughness spared to the
tramp or burglar. Though the hand of death
was upon him he was dragged by forced marches
over the Alps. He died like his divine Master
with a prayer of forgiveness on his lips.
It seemed as if the end of the Papacy had
come. The Pope dead in infidel hands, the
cardinals dispersed and seeking shelter under the
hated shadow of the crescent ; venerable ecclesi
astics living on alms in foreign countries, the
victorious infidel holding high revel in the Holy
City. What wonder the vaults of hell rang
with triumphant glee, and the agents of dark
ness on earth rubbed their hands with delight
that they had seen the end.
The trials of the Papacy did not end here.
The fugitive cardinals met at Venice and elected
Pius VII. The Pope is once more at Rome—
but to take up his cross. Napoleon endeavoured
to make him the pliant instrument of his own
ambition. But the man at whose nod the most
powerful trembled is withstood by Peter. He
hurls excommunication on that sacrilegious head.
The second Pope is now a prisoner.
From that fatal hour an eclipse began to over-
168
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
spread the sun of the emperor's glory. He Fierce
forgot that there is One above Who said, " Touch frama
n *• -i r -r 11 hurrying
not My anointed ones, for if you touch them to a close,
you touch the apple of My eye ". At the head
of a grand army of almost half a million he
marched upon Russia — with the result you know.
His glory expired in the tragic terrors of that
retreat. Heaven and earth were armed against
him. When he heard of his excommunication
he had sneeringly asked, " Does the Pope think
that the arms will fall from the hands of my
soldiers ? ' No, they are torn from their grasp
by famine and cold. Their frost-bitten ears
and fingers dropped off. Their lines staggered
under the paralysis of winter, and the stark
corpses of his glorious army were flung like
the links of a broken chain across the snows
of Europe.
He fell ; the eagle whose ambition all Europe
could not satisfy had to beat out his proud heart
on a rocky island speck. The fabric of his con
quest melted, and his name and race have ceased
to live.
The nation by whose arms he despoiled the
Pope was made to tread the wine press of sorrow
and drink defeat. And it is a marvellous coin
cidence that on the very day the French guards
abandoned Pius IX to Garibaldi's mob, on that
The Straight Path
very day their country's glory was crushed on
the fields of Sedan.
Last Here our journey ends. We have travelled
along the avenue of time. We now stand on
the fringes of two thousand years, and looking
back, what a glorious spectacle do not the trials
and the triumphs of the Papacy afford !
We have seen wave after wave dash itself
against the rock. They dissolve, melt and
vanish, but the rock remains.
Peter Sitting calmly in his boat to-day, Peter looks
surveys Out upon the present. He sees kingdoms rising
present anc^ new empires spring up in lands undiscovered
when Attila's power was flung over the earth
like a shadow. He sees old nations with founda
tions corroded by false principles and anti-
Christian teaching, proud empires broken and
tossed like foam before the wind.
Peter looks into the future and sees dark
storms rising and gloomy portents appearing
above the surface. The hoarse roar of coming
revolutions and the fierce gusts of anarchy and
socialism threatening.
And Peter has no fear, for over all walks the
Lord, and Peter clasps His hand. Peter fears no
fear not only because God upholds him to-day,
but because his mind goes back to a scene in a
Galilean valley in far off Caesarea Philippi when
170
Trials and Triumphs of the Papacy
the tall mountains cast their evening shadows,
when the stillness of the valley was stirred by
words that fell from lips Divine, and when upon
his ears the promise broke — the promise that
every page of history makes true.
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will
build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it."
171
EPILOGUE.
THE path of reason by which our anxious in
quirer was led into the Catholic Church was not
only " The Straight Path " but the solid one too.
The firm ground of unshaken logic was under
his foot at every step. He was asked to take
nothing for granted. His credulity, passions, or
emotions were never once appealed to. His
reason and his Bible alone were his only guides ;
yet each conclusion was arrived at by methods
as direct and convincing as those employed to
establish a proposition in Euclid.
His submission then to the One Church
founded by Christ — a Church producing such
credentials for her authority — so far from being
an impulse of blind caprice, was the only course
open to a reasonable man anxious for his soul's
salvation.
To reject claims so evident and convincing
would be to close his eyes to the noonday sun,
to sink back into darkness, scepticism, and, per
haps, despair.
172
Epilogue
He knows much about the Catholic Church
now, but for many a year every day will teach
him more. Time will make all things clear.
While outside her threshold, many of her
doctrines and customs seemed strange and inex
plicable. He was then like a man judging a
stained-glass window from the wrong side. The
figures appear blurred and the outlines meaning
less. Let him look at the same window from
the right side when the sun fills it, and lo !
what a change, what definite order, what grace
in outline, what skilful grouping, what variety
of shade and richness of colour ! At a glance a
world of harmonized beauty is revealed. Every
colour, pose, feature and expression is instinct
with life, eloquent with meaning. Yet all this
was hidden from the eye of the outside gazer.
So, to acquire a complete knowledge of the
Church's teaching, devotions and practices, she
must be viewed from within.
The frozen medium of hostile criticism is a
cheat. It is only when looked at through the
warm light of filial love that the mists of pre
judice dissolve, and the full beauty and purpose
of her life can be fully seen and appreciated.
Corroding anxiety will die, serene peace will fill
and possess his life. The clamouring bells of
contradictory churches need no longer disturb
173
The Straight Path
the calm serenity of his soul. And as years roll
by he can look back and say with Newman :
" From the time I became a Catholic I have had
no anxiety of heart. I have been in perfect
peace and contentment. I never have had one
doubt. // was like coming into port after a rough
sea, and my happiness on that score remains to
this day without interruption."
* " Apologia," p. 238.
ABERDEEN: THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
174
BV 601 .P44 1915
SMC
Phelan, Michael J.
The straight path : or,
marks of the true
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